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Markwayne Mullin tells ICE hunger-strikers who want 'ethnic food' to 'go back to their country'

Story by Peter Rubinstein • 11h 

U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat described the conditions at the Newark facility as "inhumane" and vowed to shut the center down (Image: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

© AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin channeled the same anti-immigrant rhetoric as Trump on Wednesday, claiming that the New Jersey ICE facility detainees on hunger strike are only doing so because they want "ethnic food."

"There was only a handful of individuals that was refusing to eat because they want their ethnic group, or their ethnic-right food. Well, they can go back to their country and get whatever food they want," Mullin said during a televised Cabinet meeting. “The fact is, we’re giving them the calories they want. This isn’t Holiday Inn.”

His comments came after Democratic members of Congress who visited Delaney Hall in Newark said detainees are being given small portions of food that "very often" contain maggots. U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat described the conditions as "inhumane" and vowed to shut the center down.

Protesters have been demonstrating for days and asserting that detainees at the New Jersey facility are on a hunger strike.

U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, a Manhattan Democrat, said that the only medication they receive is Tylenol.

The lawmakers addressed protesters and family members of detainees demonstrating outside the facility’s security gate after their visits© Kyle Mazza/Shutterstock

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