Protests, arrests and clashes outside Delaney Hall ICE detention center amid hunger strike claims

Police are investigating the latest confrontation outside the New Jersey facility that remains in operation despite outcry over the conditions inside. The post Car strikes protester outside Delaney Hall immigration detention center appeared first on MS NOW.

Majority Of Arrested ICE Protesters At Newark's Delaney Hall Came From Outside New Jersey Arrest records from recent demonstrations outside Newark’s Delaney Hall immigration detention facility show that many of those taken into custody were not New Jersey residents, according to The New York Post. According to information reviewed by The Post, only a small number of the arrested individuals were from the state, while others had traveled from locations including Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Connecticut, and New York. The arrests stemmed from a series of confrontations between protesters and law enforcement that took place during ongoing demonstrations at the facility. Authorities accused some participants of offenses such as damaging property, obstructing access to the detention center, failing to disperse, and assaulting federal officers. The demonstrations have drawn national attention as activists continue to challenge immigration enforcement policies and conditions at the facility. Observers critical of the protests argue that the presence of participants from across the country suggests a coordinated effort rather than a purely local movement. They point to the involvement of activist organizations that have publicly campaigned against Delaney Hall and called for broader changes to federal immigration enforcement. Some arrested individuals were linked through social media activity to groups that have promoted protests at the site and encouraged supporters to participate. The Post notes that among those arrested were people from a variety of personal and professional backgrounds, including students, artists, healthcare professionals, and longtime activists. Publicly available information and social media profiles indicate that several had previously participated in political or social justice campaigns on issues ranging from climate activism to racial justice and immigration reform. One organization frequently mentioned in connection with the demonstrations is the Sunrise Movement, a progressive activist group that has publicized its involvement in actions outside Delaney Hall. The group has shared updates, photos, and videos from the protests on social media and has described its organizers as being actively engaged at the site for an extended period. Supporters of the demonstrations maintain that the protests are a response to concerns about the treatment of detainees and conditions inside the facility. Critics, however, contend that the protests have become increasingly confrontational and have been supported by well-funded activist networks capable of mobilizing participants from outside the region. The standoff at Delaney Hall has continued for weeks, with repeated clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement. As investigations and legal proceedings move forward, the arrests have become part of a broader debate over immigration policy, protest tactics, and the role of national activist organizations in local political conflicts. Tyler Durden Tue, 06/16/2026 - 20:30

Nearly 40 women detained at Delaney Hall join striking men and outline demands ‘rooted in basic human rights’ Dozens of women detained inside the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility in New Jersey announced their participation in a hunger and labor strike, advocates announced on Thursday.The women, detained in unit 1 of the contentious privately run facility, also released a new list of demands. They are calling on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release women under 21, women with medical conditions and mothers. They are also demanding improved conditions inside the facility and for their immigration cases to proceed more quickly. Continue reading...

As protests flare at New Jersey’s Delaney Hall, Jessica Ordaz examines the US’s complex relationship with migration and detentionFor more than two weeks, at least 300 detainees at the Delaney Hall immigration detention center have been on a hunger and labor strike. They describe “horrible” conditions at the Newark, New Jersey, facility: spoiled food, inadequate medical care and poor living conditions. Others have alleged physical abuse by guards, including being beaten and pepper-sprayed by a riot squad, causing some detainees to be rushed to the hospital. They’re calling for a meeting with the New Jersey governor, Mikie Sherrill, to urge the immediate release of all detainees from the privately operated 1,000-bed center. As of now, the Department of Homeland Security has partly restored family visitation at the center and released pregnant detainees. To raise the alarm, protests have persisted outside Delaney, and violent clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement officials have escalated. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have wielded batons and used pepper spray and stun guns against protesters, journalists and a US senator. Federal authorities arrested demonstrators on allegations of assaulting law enforcement officers, and Sherrill deployed the New Jersey state police to the protests, leading to the arrests of more than 60 people in a single night. Meanwhile, ICE officers abruptly transferred Martin Soto, a detainee held in solitary confinement for being a suspected strike leader.Soto’s story, and that of the hundreds of detainees on strike, fits into a long history of immigrant incarceration – and how detainees resisted – said Jessica Ordaz, a historian and professor of ethnic studies at the University of Colorado Boulder and the author of The Shadow of El Centro: A History of Migrant Incarceration and Solidarity. Strikes have been reported at other facilities across the country, including in New Mexico and California, where detainees are protesting over water quality, mold and a lack of medical care. Continue reading...

Protests have intensified outside the Delaney Hall facility in Newark, where detainees inside launched a hunger strike.

Click to expand Image The silhouettes of detainees being held at Delaney Hall during a protest on May 30, 2026, in Newark, New Jersey. © 2026 Matthew Hatcher / SOPA Images/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images) Citing medical neglect, lack of sanitation, spoiled food, denial of bond, and coercion to sign legal documents that result in deportation, over 300 women and men detained at Delaney Hall, a New Jersey immigration detention facility run by the private, for-profit company GEO Group have reportedly been on a labor and hunger strike since May 22.On June 2, the attorney general filed a lawsuit against GEO Group, demanding that the company grant health inspectors access to the facility. GEO Group has not yet responded to requests for comment from several news outlets.As the strike continues, detained people have reported that officers have retaliated by beating, pepper spraying, or transferring them to other facilities. Outside the facility, ICE and local law enforcement have clashed with, and used force against, protesters who have gathered in support of the hunger and labor strike.Dangerous and inhumane conditions are a significant problem at other immigration detention centers nationwide.Investigations by Human Rights Watch over the years have shown health care at several immigration detention facilities to be inadequate, sometimes contributing to preventable deaths. The federal government’s gutting of oversight bodies has made it harder to check abuses, and the 2026 mortality rate in ICE detention is on track to be the highest in 20 years.Because of worsening detention conditions and the administration's expansion of its mandatory detention policy, people in detention have turned to signing voluntary departure agreements, often despite having a legal right to stay in the US. New York and New Jersey immigration courts saw a 1,373 percent increase in voluntary departures between July and October 2025 compared to the same period in the previous year.The strikers detained in Delaney Hall are calling for DHS to “release medically vulnerable, elderly, pregnant, and young detainees.” They are also asking to meet with the New Jersey governor, for immigration judges to meaningfully review their cases, for federal courts to review their habeas petitions, and for DHS to end pressuring detained people to sign voluntary departure agreements or deportation documents.State and federal leaders should urgently address the allegations of abuses and inhumane conditions at Delaney Hall as a step towards ending abusive detention practices nationwide.