BY BARBARA GRAHAM
NEWARK, New Jersey - Drawing the line on the absolutely inhuman conditions under which they were forced to live, hundreds of immigrant men and women, originating from more than 40 countries, seized and held for almost six hours the Esmor detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey, June 18. The 300 immigrants held there are awaiting hearings on deportation or political asylum claims. More than 200 cops were sent to smash the rebellion.

In the course of the uprising, metal chairs and tables were torn apart, sinks and toilets smashed, and the sprinkler system ripped out. The prisoners built a nine foot barricade out of chairs, tables, and other furniture. According to Esmor officials, the damage totaled more than $100,000.

Detainees and their lawyers said they had been beaten, medical care was poor, and people were denied access to telephones or attorneys.

"Esmor was a powder keg waiting to blow," said U.S. Rep. Robert Menéndez. "Complaints of abuse and intolerable conditions at the facility have repeatedly been brought to my attention."

While there have been demands for a federal investigation for some time, it was only in the two weeks before the uprising that the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) began conducting an investigation. Warren Lewis, the INS director for New Jersey, commented during a tour of the devastated center, "I don't know what we could have done to prevent this. I feel we had a clean facility with good food. It looked like it would be delicious."

"I am surprised it didn't happen sooner," Deanna Deibler told the Newark Star-Ledger. She and her husband Galen Deibler had driven three hours from Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, to visit Romanian immigrants held at the center. The Deiblers, members of Citizens For Romanian Refugee Release, said they have been trying to get the Romanian immigrants released since last year.

Detention at Esmor meant a diet of bread, corn chips, potato chips, and minced meat macaroni - orange juice and Jell-O if you were sick - according to former inmates. Dormitories crawled with bugs, detainees were barred from practicing their religion, and money was stolen from them by the prison guards.

"In the seven months I was there, I was never outside, not once," said Suzanne Kideni, a 24-year-old Sudanese refugee. "I was taken to a dorm," she said, describing her arrival at the immigration detention center to the New York Times. "It had 28 people. The toilets were near the dining tables. There was no privacy." Kideni said her own garments were confiscated and she was given other clothing - including soiled underwear.

There are reports of sexua  
 
 
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