Feds Clash With NJ Protesters Outside ICE Prison, Sherrill Denied Visit As Hunger Strike Continues

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Federal agents sprayed protesters and politicians with pepper spray outside a controversial federal detention center in New Jersey on Monday. The clash came as a hunger strike led by ICE detainees entered its fourth day.

Detainees at Delaney Hall launched their hunger strike on Friday, alleging that they are facing “inhumane” conditions including bad food, medical neglect and problems with visitation.

Family members and advocates have been holding a vigil outside the prison. On Sunday evening, the wife of a detainee reported that ICE was planning to move her husband to a different facility as retaliation for helping to lead the hunger strike. In response, community members assembled outside the detention center and blocked entrances to stop the transfer of any detainees. Several vehicles were prevented from leaving the facility, Resistencia en Accion NJ said.

Demonstrators reported that ICE agents blocked off the portion of Doremus Avenue in front of the center around 1:30 a.m. on Monday. The agents allegedly used pepper spray and batons against protesters before removing their barricades.

Video footage from the scene shows a tense confrontation between protesters and federal agents.

The escalating situation has attracted attention from elected officials including Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who was denied entry to the prison on Monday.

Several Congress members, including U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, also went to the site in attempt to defuse tensions after Sherrill's visit. As Kim and others tried to negotiate with protesters and ICE agents, shoving matches broke out. Videos shared on social media show agents spraying people in the face. At least one protester was arrested, videos show.

Kim was among those who were treated for pepper spray exposure.

ICE vehicles left Delaney Hall amid the chaos, but it was not clear whether they had detainees on board or not.

Protesters have since barricaded the entrances and exits at Delaney Hall with concrete blocks, traffic cones and other items, videos show.

The 1,000-bed prison is the first federal detention center to open under the second term of President Donald Trump. Delaney Hall has seen a wave of controversy since then, including allegations of poor treatment of detainees and visitors, several arrests involving demonstrators, federal charges against the city’s mayor and a U.S. congresswoman, a high-profile prison escape, and a detainee who died in federal custody.

Its owner, the GEO Group, is one of the largest private prison companies in the nation.

GOVERNOR DENIED ENTRY

Sherrill released a statement after being denied entry to the prison on Monday.

“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.

“I have long opposed private detention facilities and will continue to advocate for the closure of Delaney Hall and against any expansion of mass detention facilities in New Jersey, like the proposed facility in Roxbury,” the governor added.

“I came today to hear from families and advocates, and what I heard from them was heartbreaking,” Sherrill said. “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 pointed out that she wasn’t alone on Monday – several U.S. Congress members from New Jersey were also at the scene, demanding oversight visits as allowed under the federal authority of their office.

Other elected officials who have recently visited Delaney Hall – and called for its closure – have included Sen. Kim and Reps. Rob Menendez Jr., Nellie Pou, LaMonica McIver, Analilia Mejia and Frank Pallone Jr.

Kim said he was able to taste the “disgusting” food himself. Other complaints from the detainees that he has spoken to include a lack of medical treatment and poor water quality.

“This place needs to shut down,” Kim insisted. “It is not reflective of our constitution, of our laws, of how people, anybody in this country, should be treated.”

Meanwhile, New Jersey’s other U.S. senator, Cory Booker, said he plans to make another trip to Delaney Hall soon, as he has done recently.

“We’re working with our partners in the state to bring an end to this nightmare,” Booker said. “Enough is enough – not in New Jersey, not anywhere.”

FEDS, PRISON OWNER DENY ALLEGATIONS

Nearly 300 men and women at Delaney Hall released a group letter last week.

“It is public knowledge that agents have arrested individuals with physical limitations such as: deaf, mute, blind individuals, elderly persons and even pregnant women,” the detainees’ letter states.

“We see young people with approved juvenile status cases, with whom we are living in detention centers,” the letter continues. “There is also a high spread of COVID-19 in detention centers, and the flu is constant among detainees, which could lead to outbreaks of illnesses or epidemics.”

• Related: ICE Detainees At NJ Prison Plead For Help In Smuggled Letter

Reached for comment about the letter, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Patch that federal authorities are “applying the law as written.”

“No lawbreakers in the history of human civilization have been treated better than illegal aliens in the United States,” they said.

DHS spokespeople continued:

“It is a longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody. This includes medical, dental, and mental health intake screening within 12 hours of arriving at each detention facility, a full health assessment within 14 days of entering ICE custody or arrival at a facility, and access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care. This is the best health care many aliens have received in their entire lives. Meals are certified by dieticians. Ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority at ICE.”

The GEO Group also denied the allegations from detainees, claiming that they were instigated by “politically motivated” outside groups as part of a campaign to abolish ICE and end federal immigration detention by attacking the federal government's immigration facility contractors.

Here’s what a company spokesperson had to say when asked to comment on the detainees’ letter:

“In all instances, our support services are monitored by ICE, including by on-site agency personnel, and other organizations within the Department of Homeland Security to ensure compliance with ICE’s detention standards and contract requirements regarding the treatment and services ICE detainees receive. In the event issues are identified, we quickly resolve all of ICE’s concerns as required by ICE’s Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan. The support services GEO provides include around-the-clock access to medical care, in-person and virtual legal and family visitation, general and legal library access, translation services, dietician-approved meals, religious and specialty diets, recreational amenities, and opportunities to practice their religious beliefs.”

According to the GEO Group, locations where GEO provides health care services, prisoners are given access to physicians, nurses, dentists, psychologists and psychiatrists, and are given “ready access to off-site medical specialists” such as imaging facilities, emergency medical services, and local community hospitals.

Meanwhile, an ICE spokesperson said the agency’s role is to “uphold and apply the law.”

“When an immigration judge rules that an alien has no legal right to remain in this country, we are obligated under the Constitution to execute that removal,” the agency told Patch.

“Such claims are entirely unfounded and reflect the misinformation being spread by activist groups seeking to undermine federal immigration law,” ICE continued. “Our officers are confronting a staggering 1,300% increase in assaults while carrying out their duty to arrest dangerous criminals, including murderers, rapists and gang members.”

Advocates and family members of ICE detainees have pushed back against the claim that most of the immigrants imprisoned at facilities like Delaney Hall are “criminals,” however.

In April, data research organization Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse reported that out of 60,311 people held in ICE detention across the nation, about 70.8 percent had no criminal conviction before being apprehended – and many of those who do were convicted only of minor offenses such as traffic violations.

Earlier this month, a data analysis from NJ Advance Media found that more than three in four people detained in the state since January 2025 had no criminal record.

"Delaney Hall is a modern-day concentration camp operating right here in our own backyards," said Nedia Morsy, director at Make the Road New Jersey, one of several advocacy groups that have been campaigning against the prison.

"It’s flat out un-American, and we cannot in good conscience ignore the human rights violations described by the hundreds of people inside," Morsy urged.

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