{"id":273519,"date":"2026-06-22T01:52:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T01:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/273519\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T01:52:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T01:52:16","slug":"protester-hit-by-car-entering-ices-delaney-hall-as-families-demand-free-the-dads-on-fathers-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/273519\/","title":{"rendered":"Protester hit by car entering ICE\u2019s Delaney Hall as families demand \u2018Free the dads\u2019 on Father\u2019s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

A woman waving an upside down American flag outside Delaney Hall was struck Sunday afternoon by a car entering the Newark ICE detention center, <\/a>according to video shared on social media. <\/p>\n

The incident occurred near the facility\u2019s entrance, the same day that families and their supporters held a peaceful Father\u2019s Day vigil, calling for the release of dads held inside the controversial detention center. <\/p>\n

While the families held up signs that said \u201cFree the dads, Close the camps\u201d and at times played music and hung neck ties on a fence, other protesters appeared to clash with federal officers at the entrance gates. <\/p>\n

The Department of Homeland Security and Newark Police did not return a request for comment about the incident. <\/p>\n

It happened at the jail entrance, where for weeks protesters have repeatedly clashed with federal officers as well as employees of GEO Group, the private company contracted with the government to run the detention center. <\/p>\n

Nearby, volunteers with the Visibility Brigade, an activist group most known for staging demonstrations on highway overpasses, were hosting an event for detainee families. <\/p>\n

About 75 vigil members were positioned near the hospitality tent set up by Eyes on ICE, and about 15-20 autonomous protestors were standing outside the north gate as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe began to see ICE lining up behind the gates,\u201d said Birdie Green, co-founder of Sussex Visibility Brigade and one of the organizers of the event. \u201cThat\u2019s when GEO Group employees began driving through in their personal vehicles.\u201d <\/p>\n

Green said the woman, who she said is from Minnesota, was hit from behind by an employee\u2019s car. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe was not blocking vehicles, and could not see it coming,\u201d Green said.<\/p>\n

Soon after, ICE agents came outside and deployed pepper spray and mace, Green said.<\/p>\n

\u201cVisiting families at the hospitality tent had to evacuate the area. We asked our members to back away, despite the desire to help and stand up against what was happening, because we did not have the skill set or the training to take those risks\u201d said Green.<\/p>\n

Gabriela Soto, whose husband is being held in a different New Jersey immigration detention center in Elizabeth, was among those at the family vigil on Sunday. <\/p>\n

Martin Soto<\/a> was detained by ICE on Feb. 2 while he was out buying diapers, his family says, and in the months since his pregnant wife has become one of most prominent voices at the protests outside Delaney Hall<\/a> in Newark. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not allowed to bring any cards or letters, but I will try later today to do a video chat with him so he can see the drawings my oldest child has for him,\u201d she told NJ.com on Sunday morning. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s now been nearly a month since Soto and other detainees staged hunger and labor strikes to draw attention to conditions inside the facility<\/a>, claiming they were served rotten food and denied medical care<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Soto was relocated to the detention center in Elizabeth shortly after. Federal officials have disclosed little about Soto\u2019s arrest and detention, saying only that he is in the U.S. illegally and faced a charge of assault prior to his arrest. <\/p>\n

\"MartinMartin Soto, pictured with his children, has been in immigration detention since February. DHS officials say he is in the U.S. illegally.Courtesy Gabriela Soto<\/p>\n

Federal officials deny any widespread protests or poor conditions inside the private facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no hunger strike at Delaney Hall at this time,\u201d a DHS spokesman told NJ.com this week. \u201cNo detainees are being beaten or abused.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although nearly 300 detainees signed letters<\/a> detailing their complaints, federal authorities insist the unrest inside and outside Delaney Hall have been a publicity stunt by the state\u2019s Democratic elected officials. <\/p>\n

Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Congressional Democrats have called for the closure of Delaney Hall, but limited state inspections<\/a> of the facility have not turned up the kind of unsanitary conditions described by detainees inside. <\/p>\n

Over the last month, the number of protesters and intensity of the violent clashes at the jail\u2019s entrance gates have waned, though the volunteers who provide food and clothing to released detainees remain a steady presence outside. <\/p>\n

As many as 60 detainees<\/a> have filed lawsuits claiming medical neglect and other abuses, but DHS officials say ICE \u201chas higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor many illegal aliens this is the best healthcare they have received their entire lives,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

Soto and other detainees have also claimed retaliation, including beatings and isolation, for their protests, which DHS also denies. <\/p>\n

\u201cI wish there were more I could do to help him,\u201d Gabriela Soto said about her husband on Sunday. \u201cI am keeping up and trying to lift his spirits every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now expecting their third child, Gabriela Sota said she visited her husband recently after he had an anxiety attack, but it can be difficult to bring his children to see him. <\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes when I visit him I have to wait for hours and hours,\u201d she said. \u201cWith two little kids \u2014 a four-year-old and a 15-month-old \u2014 that\u2019s very hard to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previously, at Delaney Hall, she said staff confiscated drawings her kids made for their father and threw them in the trash. <\/p>\n

So she said their daughter spent the week drawing pictures for her father of happy families and houses covered in hearts, which Gabriela hopes to show Martin over a video call. <\/p>\n

\u201cLike any little kid, she wants to see her dad and give them to him,\u201d the girl\u2019s mother said. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe doesn\u2019t fully understand why she can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Staff writer Daysi Calavia-Robertson contributed to this report. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A woman waving an upside down American flag outside Delaney Hall was struck Sunday afternoon by a car…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273520,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-273519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273519\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}