Tom Homan dismissed allegations of poor conditions at the Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark, New Jersey, accusing opponents of President Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts of spreading “lies, lies, lies” to undermine deportation operations.
The border czar pushed back Friday on Newsmax against claims from New Jersey Democrats and protesters who have targeted the ICE facility for weeks.
“Lies, lies, lies. I went up there. There was never a hunger strike.”
Demonstrations have continued outside the facility for more than two weeks, fueled by allegations that detainees staged a hunger strike and complaints about medical treatment and living conditions.
Homan said reports of a hunger strike were false because detainees who skipped cafeteria meals were still purchasing food through the commissary.
“They claimed there was a hunger strike because a couple of people didn’t go to the cafeteria and eat food,” he said. “But what they didn’t know is that they were ordering food from the commissary and eating it in their rooms, so nobody missed a meal. No hunger strike.”
Homan also rejected claims that the facility is overcrowded.
“Wrong. Seven hundred people in the facility. It’s a 1,000-bed facility. There is no overcrowding.”
The criticism intensified after Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said detainees told him pregnant women, cancer patients, and others were not receiving adequate medical care and that some cases had languished for months without resolution.
Homan said he personally inspected the facility and found no evidence supporting those allegations.
“As far as the medical issues, I had a conversation with the governor [Democrat Mikie Sherrill]: ‘Give me the names of people that weren’t medically treated properly, in your opinion.’ They couldn’t give me a name,” he said.
Homan said he toured “every square foot” of the detention center, including medical facilities, recreation areas, housing units, showers, and the cafeteria. He returned the following day without advance notice and ate the same lunch served to detainees.
“I ate the same exact food — spaghetti with meat sauce, green beans, beans, rolls with butter, dessert, and a fruit drink. I’m a pretty big guy, and I didn’t finish the meal.”
Homan said the opposition stems not from concerns about conditions but from frustration with the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
He said Democrats “didn’t say squat for four years” and are angry “right now because ICE is arresting people at record numbers.”
“We’re ruining their long-term plans. That’s what it’s all about,” he said.
