They are nurses, food service workers, and maintenance staff. And they say they are being harassed just for showing up to work.

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Employees at Delaney Hall — the Newark, New Jersey facility where ICE holds immigration detainees — have gone public with their concerns, publishing an open letter in the Washington Post describing months of harassment, property damage, and intimidation at the hands of “Abolish ICE” protesters stationed outside the facility.

From Breitbart:

In an open letter to the public that ran in the Washington Post, Delaney Hall employees said their jobs have been made immensely more difficult as a result of anti-ICE rioters outside the detention center who have repeatedly attacked law enforcement.

“In recent weeks, the demonstrations outside Delaney Hall have grown increasingly hostile toward us. We have been confronted, filmed, and verbally harassed as we arrive for and leave our shifts. Protesters have attempted to block vehicles from entering and leaving the facility, and some of us have had our personal vehicles damaged. Confrontations outside the gates escalated to the point that local authorities imposed an overnight curfew on the surrounding neighborhood.”

“We understand that people hold strong views about immigration policy. We are not policymakers. We are employees trying to get to work safely, and the danger and intimidation directed at us have made that increasingly difficult. Our job is to provide safe, professional, and humane care to the detainees housed at this facility, and we take that responsibility seriously. Ensuring the safety and well-being of the detainees and of one another remains our first priority. The disruption outside these walls does nothing to advance the safety of anyone inside them.”

At the same time, Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns about what is happening inside the facility. At a House Judiciary Committee hearing this week, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) claimed detainees face poor ventilation, extreme cold, scalding showers, physical abuse, and a shortage of basic necessities.

Department of Homeland Security officials pushed back strongly on those claims.

DHS pointed out that conditions at New Jersey state prisons are significantly more dangerous than those at Delaney Hall:

• Inmates in New Jersey are twice as likely to die in a state prison than at Delaney Hall
• Delaney Hall has twice as many medical staff as New Jersey state prisons
• More than 330 inmates died in New Jersey prisons between 2018 and 2024 — an average of more than 40 deaths per year

Every person in this story bears the image of God — the workers trying to get safely to their jobs, and the detainees in their care. Harassment, intimidation, and property damage are not protest — they are harm. Pray for the workers and their protection at Delaney Hall, for the detainees in their charge to be deported speedily.

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

(Excerpt from Breitbart. Photo Credit: Stephen Leonardi/pexels)