Democratic Delegates Clash With ICE at Newark Detention Center Amid Hunger Strike Allegations
In Newark, New Jersey, the atmosphere flipped from routine inspection to tense confrontation Wednesday when three Democratic members of Congress—Members of the House and a state senator—made a carefully planned visit to the Delaney Hall Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility, the site of an escalating protest over alleged inhumane conditions.
After a fleeting hour inside the facility, West‑Carolina‑born Representative Adriano Espaillat declared the center inhumane and vowed to shut it down. We will shut this center down. We will shut it down, he announced from the visitor’s center, lifting his voice amid a chorus of gas‑pumped screams from outside the door.
Mayor Ras Baraka and Representative LaMonica McIver were among the protesters. More than 50 people carried signs proclaiming “Stop Family Separation” and chanted “Free Them All.” The anti‑ICE crowd directly called the armed agents stationed outside “cowards” and “idiots,” leading the officers to patrol in armored cars and deploy pepper‑spray after a week of escalating tension.
During the morning hour, Rep. Jerry Nadler and Rep. Dan Goldman met protesters and relatives of detainees. Goldman spoke of his determination to ensure ICE’s leadership will address the facility’s alleged shortcomings right away. We want to make sure the conditions here are going to be dealt with, he said to attendees.
On Monday a day after, New Jersey Senator Andy Kim documented a personal assault when he and Gov. Mikie Sherrill tried to speak to ICE officials: I was pepper‑sprayed by armored ICE agents, who also poured gasoline on the fire, Kim posted on X. In response, ICE officials declined to comment. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin dismissed allegations of a hunger strike as a political tactic, highlighting that the fact is, we’re providing the calories they want. This isn’t Holiday Inn.
President Donald Trump echoed a similar tone, lauding the detention center’s facilities and condemning those he called horrible killers.
On the inside, refugee advocates and immigrant-rights activists campaigned for an end of the hunger strike. Representative Gabriela Soto, a New Jersey activist, testified that her husband had been forced into the strike when transferred to a different facility. Now every single detainee inside there is participating, she cried over a black shirt emblazoned with Abolish ICE.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey warned that detainees—especially pregnant women—had been denied proper medical care. Cruelty is the point, Executive Director Amol Sinha told reporters. Conversely, the DHS denied an inquiry into the alleged hunger strike and alleged abuse. The Department upholds that the facility is designed to feed detainees properly and is the nation's best of its kind.
Until now, Delaney Hall has been a frequent flashpoint with protests and clashing. Yesterday the facility saw a round of arrests including city mayor Ras Baraka, and the recent protest leaves the question: will the Biden administration overhaul the ICE detention strategy, or will the center remain an emblem of the broken system? The next steps will be watched closely by lawmakers, activists, and the digital-VR crowds of Metaworld Media who are live‑streaming the next day.
Reporter: Marcelo from New York. Photographer: Seth Wenig, Newark.
Read more about the protests, the conditions inside ICE facilities, and the policy response on our immersive platform.
