A chaotic scene erupted early Monday outside a federal immigration detention center in New Jersey, which has been the site of protests, the arrests of lawmakers and reports of a labor and hunger strike by detainees.
Protesters were seen blocking unmarked government vehicles and, at some point, were part of a skirmish with armed, masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents outside Delaney Hall, a privately owned 1,000-bed facility ICE uses as a detention center in Newark, as shown in video from Freedom News TV and obtained by CNN.
Tensions outside the facility escalated over the weekend and politicians called for oversight after months of accusations of inhumane conditions. Other ICE facilities across the country have also faced accusations of subpar conditions as President Donald Trump’s administration continues a massive nationwide deportation campaign. A recent CNN investigation found that nearly 50 ICE detainees have died since Trump’s return to office, the highest death toll in at least two decades.
The Department of Homeland Security refuted the claims posted by elected officials over the weekend, saying the politicians were “spreading smears about ICE law enforcement and the Delaney Hall ICE facility.”
Here is what we know about the New Jersey facility and why it’s at the center of another wave of protests and allegations of subpar living conditions.
Before clashes between protesters and federal agents took place, more than 300 detainees went on a hunger and labor strike Friday in an effort to draw attention to the inhumane conditions they say they have endured, NJ.com reported.
US Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey said he visited Delaney Hall on Saturday after hearing reports of the hunger strike. The Democratic lawmaker wrote in a post on X that he spoke with people who said they were arrested at scheduled immigration interviews for green cards, and witnessed “a carton with the milk inside congealed solid.”
He says he spoke with female detainees who said they were unable to access medical care and were away from their infant children.
DHS denied the claims from Kim and other politicians in a news release Monday afternoon.
“The facts are all detainees are provided with 3 meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, and toiletries,” the news release said. “Illegal aliens also have access to phones to communicate with their family members and lawyers. Certified dieticians evaluate meals. In fact, ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens.”
DHS also said it “provide(s) comprehensive medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody,” and the care detainees get “is the best healthcare they have received their entire lives.”
“This is nothing more than a political stunt by New Jersey sanctuary politicians for fundraising clicks,” acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement. “There is NO hunger strike at Delaney Hall. There are NO subprime conditions or abuse at the facility.”
CNN has also reached out to GEO Group, which operates the facility, for comment about the detainees’ claims.
Protesters and DHS agents clash outside detention center
At least a dozen people gathered outside Delaney Hall Sunday night into early Monday and were met by several federal agents.
Law enforcement wearing masks and vests marked with ICE patches were seen pulling protesters out of a crowd and detaining them, with at least one protester dragged across the ground, video from Freedom News TV shows. It is not immediately clear what led to the encounter.
Protesters could be heard yelling “stop” as agents went into the crowd.
The video later shows protesters placing yellow barricades in front of an unmarked vehicle blaring its sirens and with flashing emergency lights.
A spokesperson for DHS told CNN approximately 125 people “surrounded” Delaney Hall. They formed “a human chain around entrances to the facility and set up barricades, blocking all entries and exits,” the agency said.
DHS said the early Monday skirmish stemmed from protesters attempting to stop the transfer of detainee Martin Alonso Soto Hernandez. His wife had organized a rally Friday announcing the hunger strike at Delaney Hall, NJ.com reported.
“Martin Alonso Soto Hernandez, an illegal alien charged with assault, was scheduled for a transfer to another ICE detention facility, but agitators obstructed the vehicle’s path…” DHS said in the statement. “Later in the evening, ICE successfully dispersed approximately 70 agitators and removed the barricades obstructing operations and were able to transfer Soto Hernandez to the Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility.”
Attorneys representing Soto Hernandez said they were able to see him at Elizabeth Detention Center, another facility in New Jersey that he was transferred to in the middle of the night.
“He was telling us how he now weighs like 110 pounds,” said attorney Alex Minogue. “Like he’s skin and bones. I could blow him away.”
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and other Democratic lawmakers said they were not allowed inside the detention center Sunday and Monday.
A spokesperson for DHS told CNN Monday “visitation has been suspended out of an abundance of caution” following the clashes.
The governor, who previously said she was “disturbed” by reports of poor conditions at Delaney Hall, said she would continue to advocate for the closure of the detention center.
“The people inside Delaney Hall are fathers and mothers, sons and daughters and members of our community. In New Jersey, we believe in the rule of law and that everyone deserves to be treated with basic dignity. We have a duty to safeguard the rights, health, and well-being of everyone within our borders,” Sherrill said.
Congressman Rob Menendez Jr., who represents the area around Delaney Hall, posted on X he visited the facility “to conduct an unannounced oversight visit” after learning that a constituent was at risk of transfer or deportation due to his involvement in the recent strike, but he was denied access to the facility.
“I’m not even asking for any special treatment. You’re denying my right to go inside and do an oversight tour,” Menendez said. He has since been able to visit Soto Hernandez at Elizabeth Detention Center, he said in a later post.
US Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey denounced conditions at Delaney Hall in a social media post Monday, saying “Immigrants at Delaney Hall are on a hunger strike because they are fighting for their human rights” as conditions are “deplorable.”
“We’re working with our partners in the state to bring an end to this nightmare and I’ll be going to Delaney Hall again to conduct oversight,” he said.
