Four detainees escape ICE detention center in Newark amid protests: DHS

Four detainees have escaped a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Newark, New Jersey, amid protests at the facility, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

The department told The Associated Press that more “law enforcement partners” have been brought in to find the detainees missing from Delaney Hall, the ICE facility. It is unknown which law enforcement agencies are involved or the identities of the escapees.

Newark Democratic Mayor Ras Baraka cited reports of a possible uprising and escape after disorder broke out at the facility Thursday night, as protesters outside the detention center locked arms and pushed against barricades as vehicles were exiting the gates.

ICE opened the facility this year under a 15-year, $1 billion contract as the Trump administration cracks down on illegal immigration.

New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice Executive Director Amy Torres said that some protesters were pepper sprayed, tackled, and dragged away from the facility by some officers. She added that some of the protesters received minor injuries but weren't hit by the vehicles.

Attorney Mustafa Cetin, who represents a detainee in the facility, told NJ.com that detainees became violent after delayed meals.

“It’s about the food, and some of the detainees were getting aggressive, and it turned violent,” Cetin said. “Based on what he told me it was an outer wall, not very strong, and they were able to push it down.”

Araceti Argueta, a spokesperson for the American Friends Service Committee, a nonprofit that represents immigrants, said that lawyers with clients in Delaney Hall have had calls canceled and have not been able to get inside the facility on Friday.

Baraka, who is critical of President Trump's immigration policies, said on Friday that there must be an end to this “chaos and not allow this operation to continue unchecked.”

“We are concerned about reports of what has transpired at Delaney Hall this evening, ranging from withholding food and poor treatment, to uprising and escaped detainees,” Baraka said.

American Friends Service Committee said Friday that detainees inside the facility reported getting small portions of food, having breakfast at 6 a.m., dinner at 10 p.m., and not receiving lunch.