HACKENSACK - "When you pepper spray a U.S. Senator, you are not working to keep people safe."

That's what Mikie Sherrill said Tuesday morning following a traumatic holiday weekend outside the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark.

Sen. Andy Kim and others were protesting Monday outside the center to prevent the transfer and forced deportation of detainees. After negotiations between Kim and federal officials broke down, ICE officers reportedly used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse the crowd.

The senator told ABC News that his throat and eyes were burning.

"But again, it's not about me," Kim said. "Several have told me they're being threatened with retaliation, saying that if you continue with this protest, we will transfer you. We will cut back or cut off visitation rights for family."

Sherrill, who was in Hackensack for a World Cup-related event, said it looked like federal officials were trying to incite the crowd.

Regarding reports of poor treatment of detainees, the governor tried to visit Delaney Hall herself, but was not allowed in. To which, she said:

"It gives you some sense that there is some there - there."

She reiterated her opposition to Delaney Hall and to a proposed ICE facility in Roxbury, which is now in the courts. Both the state and the Republican-led township have sued to block the ICE center.