New Jersey detention center to resume family visits after protests

Family visitation at Delaney Hall in Newark was set to resume at noon on May 31, with regular visiting hours restored June 1, after days of protests forced the privately operated ICE detention center into the center of a widening political fight. New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said law enforcement would help escort families into the facility as visits restarted.

The confrontation began May 22, after immigrant advocates said detainees launched a hunger and labor strike over conditions inside the building. From there, the protest swelled into a sustained demonstration over treatment inside the jail-like facility and the limits of contact with the outside world. Advocates said detainees lost access to video calls and commissary services while visitation remained suspended, and they alleged poor food, inadequate medical care and restricted communication with family members and attorneys.

The pressure intensified on May 30, when New Jersey State Police clashed with protesters outside Delaney Hall. Sherrill said six people were arrested and tear gas was used as officers on horseback helped disperse the crowd. Protesters also reported that a pro-ICE counterdemonstration appeared during the unrest, underscoring how sharply the dispute had escalated beyond a single visitation policy.

The Department of Homeland Security said visitation had been suspended because the protests made the facility unsafe for officers, detainees’ families and lawyers. DHS said ICE operations would continue as normal, and it denied allegations of unsafe conditions inside the facility. The department also said about 125 agitators surrounded Delaney Hall on May 24, formed a human chain and blocked entrances, prompting officials to pause visitation out of caution.

The fight over Delaney Hall has drawn in some of the state’s most visible Democrats. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries visited the site on May 31 with Reps. Rob Menendez, Josh Gottheimer and LaMonica McIver. Jeffries said the conditions they witnessed “shock the conscience.” Sherrill, who has said she opposes private detention facilities, used the episode to renew her criticism of private immigration lockups, including a proposed facility in Roxbury, New Jersey. She also warned that she would not let the unrest become a pretext to expand ICE operations in the state.

For families, the resumption of visits marked more than a scheduling change. It showed how quickly access to loved ones inside immigration detention can become a negotiable privilege, dependent on protests, state intervention and public scrutiny rather than treated as a baseline standard.