Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) on Sunday ordered a curfew around an immigration detention center in the city where protesters and law enforcement officers have clashed for days.

“To ensure the safety and well-being of all residents, a mandatory curfew for a half-mile area surrounding Delaney Hall is being implemented, effective immediately. Beginning at 12 a.m., Doremus Avenue will be closed to all pedestrian traffic,” Baraka said in a statement, noting that the curfew is in effect from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. until further notice.

Delaney Hall, a private prison used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has been at the center of protests since last week, with one New Jersey Democrat even being pepper sprayed outside the center amid tensions.

On Saturday, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Saturday found common ground after Sherrill deployed state police to maintain order outside the facility, where protests over conditions at the detention center have escalated.

In a Sunday morning statement posted to the social platform X, Sherrill said that “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.”

“These actions put both peaceful protestors and law enforcement in danger. The police were not in protective gear; they had been on location since early in the morning ensuring protestors and counter protestors had areas to exercise their rights safely,” she added.

Department of Homeland Security celebrated the crackdown in a Sunday social media post alongside photos of empty streets outside the facility after law enforcement clashed with protesters.

“Together with our state and local law enforcement partners, we have SECURED the area around Delaney Hall,” the post reads. “ANYONE who attempts to obstruct law enforcement or disrupt our facility will face the FULL weight of the law. WE WON’T BACK DOWN.”

Sherrill and fellow Democrats are vocal opponents to the 1,000 bed detention facility and have called for its closure.

Last week, the governor alongside some House and Senate Democrats sought to conduct oversight of the facility last week as demonstrators gathered. Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) was pepper sprayed amid the protests on Monday.

“Detainees protesting the lack of due process, the disgusting food and poor treatment while their families and advocates stood outside calling for help,” he wrote on social media at the time. “Instead of engaging with me and others about the poor conditions, ICE sent in an armored vehicle and a line of armed agents that only poured gasoline on the fire.”

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