It was a tense scene outside Newark's Delaney Hall early this morning, where Mayor Ras Baraka brought along members of his administration to create a barricade demanding entry into the building.

That's after his fire code inspectors were denied access.

As we reported on Monday, ICE confirmed Delaney Hall began housing immigrant detainees on May 1st, even though the city and courts haven't given approvals for permits to operate.

Now the mayor says city attorneys are filing an injunction to stop them.

Raven Santana reports.

You can't just go in a building and open it up without a certificate of occupancy.

You can't say I have a certificate of occupancy for 20 years ago without doing any inspections.

You can't change things or fix things.

And if you do all of that, even if you say you didn't do that, we have a right to check.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, alongside his team and local advocates, gathered at the entrance of Delaney Hall Immigration Detention Center demanding answers after fire and code enforcement officials were blocked from entering the facility.

The 1,000 bed facility is owned by the private prison company GEO Group, which entered into a 15-year, $1 billion contract with ICE in February.

ICE don't have a long-term lease with these folks, so GEO is completely responsible.

They're hiding behind ICE right now.

Keep telling our folks that ICE has to give us permission to get in, which is completely not true.

The fire officials can go into any building anytime they want to do any inspections.

They're not allowing them in.

I wasn't there here yesterday.

The fire officials and UCC code officials were here yesterday.

They wouldn't let them in, so now I'm here today.

ICE confirmed to NJ Spotlight News that Delaney Hall has been housing detainees as of May 1st, a month ahead of schedule.

But the Federal Immigration Agency did not confirm the number of people currently held inside, saying in a statement that the number constantly changes as detainees transfer in and out on a recurring basis.

Adding, ICE leverages a diverse detention network, including private facilities, to ensure all aliens reside in safe, secure and humane environments during their time in ICE custody.

Similar to the Elizabeth Detention Center, which is just less than seven miles down the road, this is a very industrial site.

That if you did not know the location, you wouldn't even know that exists, and that's very purposeful.

ICE specifically has immigration detention centers away from where people live, out of sight, out of mind type of thing.

Jenny Garcia, an advocate and senior communications associate with Detention Watch Network, raised concerns about the health risks linked to the detention center's location.

Garcia, whose cousin was previously detained by ICE, stressed that the site's surroundings add another layer of risk for those being held inside.

The folks that are watching this cannot smell the rancid smell that is really out here, with trucks passing by, with the smell of sewage around.

And not only are the conditions inside the detention center, but we understand that this area of Newark and the Ironbound is called the toxic corridor for a reason.

And it is not safe for people to be breathing this air, and not only for the people that are going to be detained at Delaney Hall, but also the workers as well.

We had a story yesterday of a young man who married a woman who they were going through the process to become citizens of the United States.

They went to the immigration office, and while they were in the immigration office, ICE grabbed her and detained her and put her in this property.

We're trying to verify that.

It's one of the reasons that we are down here.

While it remains unclear who is currently being held at Delaney Hall, Baraka says the company does not have the necessary permits to operate the facility, leaving little to no transparency.

Geo Group Disputes is saying it has a valid certificate of occupancy and is in compliance with all health and safety requirements.

The city has sued the prison company over the permits.

We're going to give them a citation today.

We're giving them a citation for not allowing us in yesterday, and we're giving them a citation for not allowing us in today.

We're also giving them a citation for blocking the fence up while we're right there.

So we're going to give them three citations today, and give it to the Geo Group and have them respond.

I think ICE right now not responding to us is a little cowardice.

They need to step up and answer to what's happening here.

The Geo Group called the mayor's actions today a publicity stunt and an attempt to interfere with federal immigration enforcement, adding in a statement.

The mayor and city officials have been advised multiple times, both directly and in court proceedings, that access to all federal immigration processing centers is governed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The mayor has chosen to blatantly ignore these established processes to advance his political agenda, and in doing so, has put the safety and security of our employees at risk and demonstrated a complete disregard for the safety and the individuals housed at the facility.

DPW trucks are across the street.

Did you have plans to barricade this area?

I don't know.

We're thinking about it, you know.

We're thinking about it.

And honestly, I don't want to put DPW workers at risk because these people are dangerous people.

So if anybody's going to block it, I will.

The mayor is hoping he won't need to barricade the building, but in the meantime is asking for a judge to rule on the city's request to allow inspectors, local fire and safety officials into the building.

For NJ Spotlight News, I'm Raven Santana.

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