Last summer, I spent a lot of (dusty, sweltering) time outside Delaney Hall, an ICE facility in New Jersey that became a flashpoint for protests both inside and outside the detention center's walls—and the site of one of the embattled agency's most violent crackdowns of the past year.
Delaney Hall is mired in allegations of detainee abuse, inedible food, and inadequate medical care. But this week, one of the stories that emerged from that place last summer came to something approximating a hopeful conclusion.
Martin Soto, a Peruvian man who helped organize a weeks-long hunger and labor strike inside the for-profit detention center, was released late last night.
Soto was detained by federal agents last February while buying diapers for his then eleven-month-old son. His wife, Gabriela Soto, became an immigrant rights organizer as she fought for her husband's freedom. She organized rallies outside the detention center, spoke to politicians, and embraced a role that she never planned for.
“I know that my advocacy, Martin’s bravery, has placed this case in the spotlight & therefore your decisions in this are under that same spotlight,” Gabriela wrote in a letter to New Jersey's Attorney General, pleading with her to sign off on a crucial piece of paperwork toward Martin's release. “But I ask you to please consider providing us with this documentation so we can continue our fight.”
Gabriela and Martin's fight is not over yet: Martin, who is seeking asylum, was released with an ankle monitor. And though the company that operates Delaney Hall, GEO Group, has fallen out of the headlines, it's still facing lawsuits for alleged detainee abuse—and the voices calling for Delaney Hall to be shut down have not been silenced.
—Sophie Hurwitz
