Watch: America’s First ‘Formerly Undocumented’ Congressman Delivers Ultimatum at Besieged ICE Facility

The New York City lawmaker who describes himself as the first “formerly undocumented immigrant” member of Congress was defiant this week when he arrived at Newark’s Delaney Hall detention center waving a court order and demanding entry.

Rep. Adriano Espaillat, a Washington Heights Democrat, was one of three Manhattan lawmakers who converged on the center Wednesday to demand the Trump administration shut it down and, in the interim, treat those held inside more humanely.

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Espaillat said he is also one of 12 plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking to force DHS to allow lawmakers into any detention center, including privately operated facilities such as Delaney Hall, at any time without notice.

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He said any public official should be allowed into Delaney Hall to inspect conditions and claimed the majority of those being held are “working people” before briefly switching to Spanish.

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The visit by the Manhattan lawmakers was less raucous, however, than another public official’s visit the previous day, when Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., was pepper-sprayed by ICE after allegedly interceding between the two factions on the street in an apparent attempt to calm tensions.

Things did not cool off after the congressmen left, however, as pepper spray was again deployed Wednesday and Thursday evening while the at-times-heated demonstrations showed no signs of subsiding.