Opinion – Joe Scarborough goes off over NJ ICE facility after lawmakers turned away

“Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough went off this week, questioning what the Trump administration could possibly be “hiding” after New Jersey lawmakers, including Gov. Mikie Sherrill, were denied entry into an ICE detention facility in their own state.

“100 men jammed into one room, no guards that will actually come in there, they’re sharing maybe one or two filthy backed up toilets. It’s unbelievable,” said Scarborough. “A lot of people will say stupidly that ‘oh they’re illegal, they get what they deserve’— first of all you don’t know if they’re here illegally, secondly the rules keep changing. Now we’re going after people applying for green cards?”

This conversation is no longer just about undocumented immigrants with criminal records — that is, the ones the president assured us he was going after. According to attorneys and lawmakers who’ve visited Delaney Hall, the Newark immigration detention center, some detainees were attending scheduled immigration appointments or actively pursuing legal status.

The Department of Homeland Security insists detainees are being provided meals, water, toiletries and medical care. If that’s the case and if conditions are acceptable, why are elected officials being denied access to inspect a facility funded with taxpayer dollars?

That’s not a partisan question. Oversight is literally part of their job.

Meanwhile, anger over conditions inside Delaney Hall have continued to grow. Lawyers for detainees describe spoiled food, lack of medical treatment, overcrowding, and a hunger strike involving hundreds of detainees. CNN reports nearly 50 ICE detainees have died nationwide during the Trump administration’s second-term deportation push, which is the highest number in at least two decades.

Sen. Andy Kim posted this after visiting Delaney Hall.

“I rushed to ICE detention center Delaney Hall yesterday when I heard detainees began a hunger strike. Here’s what I saw:
-18 yr old high school student crying and saying she just wanted to graduate senior year
-Pregnant woman unable to get full OBGYN medical support
-Woman who had a miscarriage in the detention facility and left to manage all on her own
-Mom not allowed to spend more than a few minutes with 4 month old baby”

Now, people can support border security. People can support immigration enforcement. But cruelty should never become policy. And spending tens of billions of taxpayer dollars to create suffering for people who are not violent criminals or convicted felons is just morally wrong, and it’s a waste of American resources.

Regardless of immigration status, immigrants in New Jersey and everywhere else in this country are still guaranteed constitutional protections, including due process and equal protection under the law. The Constitution applies to “persons,” not just citizens.

And even Joe Scarborough pointed that out, by invoking one of the most conservative Supreme Court justices in modern history.

“None other than Antonin Scalia was asked the question who does United States law apply to? And he said ‘it applies to Americans in the United States, it applies to American citizens all across the world’ and Scalia, the godfather of conservatism, said it applies to anybody, anybody that is in the United States of America. They are protected by constitutional rights.”

This issue is bigger than politics. Basic humanity matters, even when it’s inconvenient, even when it’s unpopular, and even when the people involved don’t look like us or vote like us.

Treat humans as human. That should not be controversial.

Lindsey Granger is a NewsNation contributor and co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising.” This column is an edited transcription of her on-air commentary.

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