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By Gloria Pazmino, Rebekah Riess, Emma Tucker, CNN
(CNN) — Protests continued Sunday past a nightly curfew near Delaney Hall, an ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey, over alleged inhumane conditions for the detainees inside.
Several protesters were arrested after refusing to leave once the curfew began, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said.
“A group of individuals who had come to the protest armed with helmets, shields, or gas masks deliberately refused to comply with repeated orders to leave the area and were arrested,” Davenport said in a statement.
A heavy law enforcement presence could be seen moving protesters from the curfew zone outside Delaney Hall, according to video from Freedom News TV obtained by CNN. Officers, many marked as state police, were seen forming lines with riot shields, and several protesters appeared to be taken into custody.
CNN has reached out to the New Jersey State Police, Newark officials and the Department of Homeland Security for more information.
Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka enacted the curfew in a statement early Sunday, after protesters and law enforcement clashed outside the facility again Saturday night.
“Due to the escalating situation at Delaney Hall and the increasing need for police intervention, immediate action is required to protect public safety,” Baraka said.
The curfew will continue nightly from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. until further notice, his statement said.
Separately, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said Sunday that DHS had met her demand to restore family visitation at the facility. Limited visitation was set to resume at noon Sunday, with regular visitation hours restored Monday, she said.
Protesters have gathered for days outside the privately owned, 1,000-bed facility where inhumane conditions have been alleged for months.
Some of the detainees’ lawyers said tensions first escalated over Memorial Day weekend when hundreds of detainees went on a hunger strike to protest spoiled food and wretched conditions. DHS has denied that there was a hunger strike.
Earlier, Sherrill condemned the dangerous actions of some protesters during Saturday’s demonstrations, which she said “put both peaceful protestors and law enforcement in danger.”
“Masked individuals at Delaney Hall attacked the barrier in the protected protest area and began aggressive and dangerous actions against Newark and New Jersey State Police, including throwing projectiles, utilizing the barriers as weapons, and lighting tires on fire in the street,” Sherrill said Sunday.
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