Protests grow outside Newark detention center over food, medical care claims

Protests outside Delaney Hall in Newark grew more intense as demonstrators and federal officers faced off over allegations that detainees inside the 1,000-bed immigration center were being served spoiled food and left without adequate medical care. By the fifth straight day of demonstrations, protesters had blocked vehicles outside the privately run facility, and clashes escalated with pepper spray, gas canisters, batons and ICE officers wearing face coverings.

The center of the dispute was a hunger and labor strike that advocates said involved roughly 300 detainees. Family members and advocates alleged spoiled or inedible food, worms in meals, black mold, limited privacy, dehumanizing treatment during visits and little or no access to medical care. Advocate Catalina Odorno said detainees were striking and described complaints that included worms in food, black mold, lack of privacy and poor treatment during visits. Advocates also said detainees wanted the immediate release of elderly people, young people and people with medical conditions.

Lawmakers stepped into the fight as the facility drew more scrutiny. Sen. Andy Kim and Rep. Rob Menendez toured Delaney Hall and raised detainee complaints directly with staff, including concerns about access to medical care and reports that pregnant detainees were not receiving needed treatment. New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill was denied entry to the facility, and later called for it to be shut down or investigated.

Delaney Hall reopened on May 1 after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced on February 26 that it had reached a 15-year contract with GEO Group to restore the immigration processing and detention center. ICE uses the privately operated facility along Newark Bay as part of its detention network, and the reopening set off months of legal and political conflict in Newark, including criticism from city and state officials.

The Department of Homeland Security denied the allegations and said ICE provided three meals a day, drinking water, hygiene products, communication access and wraparound medical care. That clash of accounts has turned Delaney Hall into a broader flashpoint over ICE detention policy and the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, with protesters, lawmakers and federal officials now locked in a dispute over what conditions inside the facility actually look like.