By: Taylor Jung and Harrison Malkin
A suffocating cloud hangs over Doremus Avenue in Newark, an industrial thoroughfare, where the air clings with a noxious, putrid scent that can only be described as decay. Eighteen-wheeler trucks drive by and kick up gray slated flecks of dust, stinging one’s eyes and leaving a harsh burning sensation in one’s lungs.
It is amongst this polluted cacophony that the privately run immigration detention center, Delaney Hall, is situated. The building, which is between the New Jersey Turnpike, an energy plant and an animal waste rendering site, was the first immigrant detention facility to open under President Donald Trump’s second term–and has become a snapshot of deteriorating conditions and a flashpoint for protest.
Since the facility opened in May, advocates have relayed troubling accounts from inside, such as crowded conditions and insufficient food–or tap water that is undrinkable, extremely hot, and causes skin irritation and eczema. Families have expressed experiencing difficulties seeing their loved ones, in part, due to canceled visitation hours.
On June 12, some detainees went nearly a day without food, according to immigrant rights advocates. When lunch finally arrived in the afternoon, some received only hot dogs or slices of bread, according to Amy Torres, executive director of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice.
Then, some detainees began to protest.
“There [was] an altercation with the guards, where they started using pepper spray. People were trying to break things. This person that called [our hotline] said that they were…afraid of what was happening,” Torres said.
The detainees managed to break through a wall, which was later described as made of only drywall and mesh. As news spread that four detainees escaped—confirmed by a senior Department of Homeland Security official—law enforcement presence intensified.
Family members outside were told there was a “technical issue” and visitations were canceled, said Torres, recounting what a woman waiting for her loved one told them. Volunteers were also outside and “heard a loud bang and saw some guards inside the gates run from one end to another with zip ties.”
“No one came out, but they saw [federal agents] running around. And then suddenly everyone in the parking lot was smelling that same pepper spray smell. It was irritating folks’ eyes and nose and mouth,” Torres said. “We didn’t see anything happening. But it was thick enough in the air, emanating from inside, that people were sneezing and coughing.”
As the news broke, demonstrators began to gather outside Delaney Hall. Tensions escalated late into the evening: some demonstrators tried to block an official vehicle while officers shoved and pushed protesters, according to social media videos and accounts from advocates on the ground. The Jersey Vindicator reported that their photojournalist Andres Kudacki was pepper-sprayed by ICE.
One federal agent, who arrived after the clash, said: “As long as people voice their opinions and everything like that, it’s alright. It’s all good. As long as nobody gets wild, nobody hurts anybody, as long as they’re protesting and not violent, it’s cool. We were all young once upon a time and everything, and we wanted to voice our opinions and…feel like we had a place in this world.”
While activists continued to gather at Delaney Hall into the early morning hours, Torres drew parallels to similar demonstrations across the country, saying, “what we’re hearing here is a lot of what we were hearing in LA, that it was the protesters instigating, that it was the people in detention rioting.”
“But that misses the entire question of why were they rioting anyway–going 20 hours without food to only receive a hot dog. That’s absurd,” they said.
One advocate present at Delaney Hall on Thursday night noted, “ordinary people, who might not be involved in politics at all, look around them and realize that their neighbors are being violently kidnapped, that their neighbor’s children are being violently kidnapped.”
“If that doesn’t reach the everyday American then I don’t know what will,” said the advocate, who only wanted to be referred to as “J.”
In a statement to New Jersey Urban News, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson denied there was “widespread unrest” at the facility, emphasizing that Delaney Hall “remains dedicated to providing high-quality services, including around-the-clock access to medical care, family visitation, and dietician-approved meals.”
Delaney Hall is run by the GEO Group, a global private prison company with a long history of allegations of neglect and poor conditions. The company says on its website that it is “committed to providing leading, evidence-based rehabilitation programs to individuals while in-custody and post-release into the community.” It was awarded a $1 billion, 15-year contract to run Delaney Hall, tripling the state’s capacity to detain immigrants. Even though a 2021 law banned immigration detention centers in New Jersey, a legal battle over the law is ongoing. As the state’s appeal remains pending, Delaney Hall is allowed to operate for now.
Since Delaney Hall opened, advocates and volunteers have maintained a near-daily vigil outside the facility to show solidarity with friends and loved ones—and to keep watch on the situation inside.
“When the New Jersey Congressional delegation tried to visit, they arrested the mayor of Newark, even though he wasn’t inside the facility,” Torres said. “They charged [Rep. LaMonica McIver] with felonies. No one really knows what the true picture is on the inside, which is really scary. That’s why so many people have shown up tonight—we know ICE has a habit of lying.”
On June 13, vans began to stream in and out of the facility as the air around it felt heavy with the memory of the prior night. As one bus pulled into Delaney Hall’s front entrance, volunteers began to chase it, recording everything on their phones. Someone inside the bus peered out, while another banged their handcuffed hands on the barred window.
“Seven vans went in this way. We’re expecting them to fill them up, and then they’re going to transfer people out,” said Li Adorno, organizer for Movimiento Cosecha, while gesturing towards the facility.
One of the vehicles had “CoreCivic, Inc.” written on its side, another private prison company that operates detention facilities in New Jersey and nationwide. Sen. Andy Kim, who visited Delaney Hall that morning with Rep. Rob Menendez, said that senior officials at the facility “alluded” that it would be cleared within 24 hours.
After a family drove from Georgia on Wednesday and posted bail for their loved one, he was still not allowed to leave by Friday afternoon. As of Monday, it is not known how much of the facility has been emptied, or where people were transferred to. According to reporting from NJ Spotlight News, relocated detainees “call after reaching destinations,” which include New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Texas.
Jenny Garcia of Detention Watch Network said she wishes lawmakers pushed harder for the release of detainees, so they could go home to their families. There have been reports that detainees are often moved between multiple ICE detention centers across the country, making it increasingly difficult for loved ones to know where they are.
“Right now, we are just assessing what we can do. I think it’s like a lot to take in, and I feel like the last 48 hours have been pretty intense for a lot of people,” Garcia said.
She sat on a stone in front of Delaney Hall’s gates, expressing pride over wearing her deep-blue t-shirt that read “Honduras.” Garcia wiped away tears, while talking about her cousin, who spent his 25th birthday inside ICE detention last year. He was transferred between six facilities before he was ultimately deported.
“No federal agent is going to ever make me feel ashamed of where my people come from. And as much as they try to demonize people from Central America…and criminalize people from across the country, I’m not going to let them take away how joyful it makes me feel to be where I’m from,” she said.
“I think the systems work best when you are down yourself and doubting the power you have,” Garcia added.
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