New Jersey governor says she was barred from talking with detainees at Delaney Hall

Gov. Mikie Sherrill left Delaney Hall with a narrow view of the Newark immigration jail and a larger complaint about what elected officials are being kept from seeing. After weeks of being denied entry, Sherrill said she was finally allowed inside on June 8, 2026, only for what she called a “closely controlled and limited tour” that did not allow her to meet or speak directly with detainees.

Sherrill said the restrictions defeated the purpose of the visit. She said she was pressing for humane treatment, inspections, access and eventual closure of the 1,000-bed facility, which is run by GEO Group under a 15-year contract ICE said was worth about $1 billion. Sherrill also said she was the first sitting New Jersey governor to visit Delaney Hall, a distinction that underscored how unusual and contested access has become at the site.

The fight over access has turned Delaney Hall into one of New Jersey’s sharpest immigration flashpoints. ICE announced on February 26, 2025, that the facility would reopen under the new administration, and it opened in May 2025. Almost immediately, it drew protests, criticism from immigrant-rights groups and questions about conditions inside the center.

Those questions escalated again in early June 2026, when reports said detainees were involved in a hunger strike. The same week, New Jersey filed a lawsuit on June 2 seeking full access for health inspectors after state officials said GEO Group blocked a complete inspection. The state’s complaint said inspectors were denied access to parts of the facility, even as later reporting said the food service area was found satisfactory.

The clash has also revived memories of the earlier unrest outside the center, where Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested during a 2025 protest at Delaney Hall. Since then, congressional Democrats and immigrant-rights groups have accused ICE and GEO Group of withholding transparency about what is happening behind the walls.

For Sherrill, the issue is no longer just who gets to tour Delaney Hall. It is whether any public authority can meaningfully inspect a federally contracted detention center if detainees cannot be spoken to freely, parts of the building remain off-limits and oversight is left to a managed script. The state’s lawsuit and Sherrill’s visit now point to the same unresolved question: who decides what New Jersey is allowed to see inside Delaney Hall.