Sherrill blasts denied access to Delaney Hall amid detention fight

Mikie Sherrill said Delaney Hall shut her out even as the Newark detention center faced a hunger strike, street protests and mounting questions about who is allowed to see inside. The governor said her request for access was denied the same morning she visited the 1,000-bed facility, calling it a sign of deeper secrecy at a site run by GEO Group.

“My request for access to Delaney Hall was formally denied this morning, raising serious questions about what they are trying to hide from public view.” Sherrill said she was the first sitting governor to visit the facility and said she went to hear from families and advocates who described conditions she called heartbreaking. She also said she would keep pushing to close Delaney Hall and to block any expansion of mass detention in New Jersey, including a proposed facility in Roxbury.

The confrontation unfolded as a hunger and labor strike at Delaney Hall entered its fourth day. About 300 protesters gathered outside the Newark facility on May 25, and reporting from that day said Immigration and Customs Enforcement threatened to transfer more than 100 detainees involved in the strike to Louisiana and Texas. U.S. Sen. Andy Kim stayed at the site to try to negotiate against the transfers, while federal agents used rubber bullets and pepper spray against demonstrators outside.

Sherrill later said New Jersey Department of Health officials were allowed into only a limited section of Delaney Hall on May 28 and were blocked from a full inspection. State officials said they wanted to inspect sleeping quarters, showers, toilets, medical facilities and ventilation equipment, but were denied that access. The dispute sharpened the central question around the facility: whether federal immigration authorities can shield a detention center from the kind of oversight state and local officials say is necessary.

Newark has been fighting GEO Group over Delaney Hall for more than a year, arguing the facility opened without proper permits or inspections. Mayor Ras Baraka has pointed to a wall collapse that caused a security breach, the death of a detainee in custody and the ongoing hunger strike as evidence that the center cannot be trusted to police itself. A federal judge sent Newark’s lawsuit against GEO Group to mediation in April and set a June 15 deadline for completion.

New Jersey escalated its own challenge on June 2, filing suit against GEO Group after state health inspectors were blocked from conducting a full inspection. Sherrill thanked members of the state’s congressional delegation, including Andy Kim, Rob Menendez, Nellie Pou, LaMonica McIver and Analilia Mejia, for using their oversight power to press for accountability. For now, Delaney Hall remains a test of how much public scrutiny the immigration system will allow when the conditions inside are the subject of open dispute.