NEWARK, N.J. — Authorities are looking for four detainees who escaped from an immigration detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

What You Need To Know

  • Authorities are looking for four detainees who escaped from an immigration detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, according to the Department of Homeland Security

  • More “law enforcement partners” have been brought in to find the detainees missing from Delaney Hall, according to an emailed statement attributed to a senior DHS official 

  • Newark Mayor Ras Baraka referenced the reports of the escapees in a statement he issued about concerns over conditions at the facility, following days of unrest

More law enforcement partners have been brought in to find the detainees missing from Delaney Hall, and an alert was also sent to law enforcement officials, according to an emailed statement from a senior DHS official whom the department did not identify. 

The statement didn’t specify which law enforcement agencies are involved in any search for those who had escaped. The FBI confirmed separately that the bureau was assisting Homeland Security at Delaney Hall but did not provide clarity about its involvement.

Immigration attorney Mustafa Cetin, whose client has been housed at Delaney Hall for about the past two weeks, told Spectrum News that tensions within the facility had escalated Thursday after a group of about 50 detainees waited several hours for their lunch. Cetin said his client told him about the melee Thursday evening as well as about simmering unrest that had been growing over meals, which were often hours delayed. 

A group of detainees made their way to one of the housing units Thursday, broke an opening into a wall and tied bed sheets together in an apparent attempt to escape, Cetin's client told him.

“He didn’t see anyone personally escaping, but basically he saw the opening being guarded by officers,” the attorney said.

Cetin noted that he received an email from federal officials saying all appointments were canceled for Friday with no indication as to when they would resume. 

“I think it’s reasonable considering the security concerns,” he said. “But overall there’s a lot of things that I don’t think are being done properly.”

“When someone is in government custody … the government has to account for their safety," he added. "The government has to account for their health, and that translates to a certain amount of planning."

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka referenced the reports of the escapees in a statement he issued very early Friday morning about conditions at the facility, following days of unrest.

“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. “This entire situation lacks sufficient oversight of every basic detail — including local zoning laws and fundamental constitutional rights.”

Photos and videos posted by the advocacy group New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice to social media showed that several dozen protesters had been outside the facility Thursday.

Cetin said that demonstrators were also present Friday, and social media posts showed that New Jersey Democratic lawmakers — U.S. Sen. Andy Kim and U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez — were on site and appeared to have gone inside Delaney Hall. 

Baraka called for city officials and members of Congress to be permitted to enter the facility and observe conditions in his statement.

The Newark mayor was arrested — with the case later dropped — on trespassing charges after trying to join Democratic House representatives on a tour of Delaney Hall last month. Baraka later announced a lawsuit against New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor, interim U.S. Attorney Alina Habba, seeking damages for "false arrest and malicious prosecution."

U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, who was part of the congressional group visiting last month, was indicted Tuesday on federal charges alleging she impeded and interfered with immigration officers while Baraka was being arrested.

“We demand immediate answers and clear communication with the GEO Group and the Department of Homeland Security,” Baraka said in his statement Friday. “We must put an end to this chaos and not allow this operation to continue unchecked.”

Delaney Hall, a 1,000-bed Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, opened earlier this year and quadrupled the detention capacity in the state, according to the American Civil Liberities Union. Florida-based GEO Group Inc. was awarded the 15-year, $1 billion contract to run the facility in February.

A request for comment to the GEO Group by Spectrum News was not immediately returned Friday.