New Jersey to replace federal agents outside Newark ICE center

Does pulling federal agents back from Delaney Hall lower the chance of another clash, or does it simply push a deeper fight over detention, protest rights and federal power out of sight?

New Jersey answered by putting state police in charge of public safety outside the Newark immigration center, a move meant to calm a scene that had already turned into one of the nation’s most volatile detention-center confrontations. Gov. Mikie Sherrill said the state would establish protected peaceful protest zones and keep vehicles moving safely in and out of the facility, replacing the federal posture that had brought armored cars, riot shields and repeated crowd-control tactics to the gate.

The shift came after a week of unrest around Delaney Hall, the 1,000-bed ICE detention center that reopened in 2025 near Newark Liberty International Airport. Federal officials said the site would expand detention capacity in the Northeast and streamline logistics. But the facility quickly became a flashpoint over allegations of poor conditions inside, claims that ICE and GEO Group denied. Reporting from the protests described pepper spray, tear gas, batons, flashbangs and arrests as demonstrators tried to block entrances and vehicles leaving the complex.

Sherrill, who said she was denied access to Delaney Hall, called herself the first sitting New Jersey governor to visit the facility and renewed her push to close it. She also said she opposes private detention centers and wants to block another proposed facility in Roxbury. Her stance has drawn in the state’s federal delegation, including Sen. Andy Kim and Reps. Rob Menendez, Nellie Pou, LaMonica McIver and Analilia Mejia, who have pressed for oversight as tensions climbed.

The humanitarian questions inside the building have fed the public confrontation outside. Advocates and detainees described a hunger and labor strike, alleging worms in food, squalid conditions and limited access to health care and legal help. Officials said more than 100 detainees were threatened with transfer to Louisiana and Texas. New Jersey’s attorney general said state police temporarily cleared the area in front of Delaney Hall after protesters used fireworks and gas canisters late Friday night to secure safer passage for vehicles.

The broader scene at Delaney Hall reflects a national pattern: immigration detention centers have become pressure points where local residents, state officials, detainee families and federal agents collide over transparency, confinement and constitutional limits. With more than a dozen arrests during the week and dueling rallies still gathering on Saturday, the dispute around Newark showed how quickly a detention center can become a test of how far federal authority can go, and how much force a state will tolerate at its edge.