Confrontations between protesters and police at a New Jersey immigration facility have emerged as a major focal point in demonstrations opposing President Donald Trump’s immigration policies since late May.
Over 80 individuals have been taken into custody during multiple demonstrations outside Delaney Hall in Newark, where protesters say they are standing with detainees who report substandard living conditions inside the facility.
The Trump administration has stood by the care provided to individuals held at the 1,000-bed center.
Here are the key details:
Geo Group, a private correctional company operating detention facilities nationwide, owns the center.
According to Cosecha, an immigrant advocacy organization, detainees began a hunger strike last month. They sent out handwritten letters outlining their requests, which include better living standards and improved healthcare access, claiming some individuals are being refused necessary medications.
Similar allegations of medical neglect for serious and ongoing health issues have been made by detainees at other locations across the nation, with hunger strikes announced at additional facilities.
Those held at Delaney Hall report receiving spoiled and moldy food, including items containing maggots, while being kept in overcrowded quarters without air conditioning. Democratic congressional representatives from New York City toured the facility during early protests and stated the detainees’ claims appear legitimate.
President Donald Trump and his administration have defended the facility’s management and rejected claims of any hunger strike, mistreatment, or substandard conditions.
“The fact is, we’re giving them the calories they want,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said recently. “This isn’t Holiday Inn.”
Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, complimented the meals following a recent inspection. “The spaghetti was good,” he told CBS News.
GEO Group has rejected the complaints as “a politically motivated campaign by outside groups to dismantle ICE and federal immigration detention by targeting the government’s facility contractors.”
Demonstrators, some equipped with gas masks and protective helmets, have utilized traffic cones, garbage bins and other materials as improvised barriers, attempting to prevent vehicles from accessing the facility.
Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche posted photographs online showing bloody injuries and bruises suffered by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Social media footage shows officers in riot equipment using tear gas and striking demonstrators with batons. Some recordings captured mounted police advancing into the crowds.
On Friday evening, ICE officers detained four individuals on charges including assault on law enforcement, obstruction and making threats, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced on X. Newark police separately reported charging a Seattle resident with criminal mischief for breaking car windows.
“No one has the right to come into our city, destroy personal property, or incite violence,” Newark Public Safety Director Emanuel Miranda posted on social media. “Think twice before coming to Newark with any other agenda than to protest peacefully.”
A law enforcement officer faced charges for taking $10,000 in camera equipment from an Associated Press photographer who was hurt while reporting on the confrontation. The journalist, Angelina Katsanis, was hit in the knee by a wooden beam during fighting between police and demonstrators. After receiving medical care, she used a tracking device to locate her stolen equipment at his residence, the state’s attorney general announced Thursday.
Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill initially hesitated to get involved in the escalating demonstrations. However, as violence worsened, she announced the situation had become “grown unsafe” and “unacceptable” and deployed state police to maintain order.
State troopers established designated areas for protests and vehicle inspection points while ICE officers previously positioned outside the detention facility agreed to withdraw.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka implemented a 9 p.m. curfew and deployed city police to enforce it.
However, just one week afterward, the Democrat announced the city would reduce its police deployment, citing decreased arrests and reluctance to continue using taxpayer funds to protect a privately operated facility.
The state’s attorney general filed a lawsuit against Geo Group this week, claiming the facility prevented state health inspectors from having “full access” to investigate the allegations.
