New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Sen. Andy Kim met Monday with families of detainees held at Delaney Hall and renewed pressure on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to allow access to the Newark detention center. The visit came a day after protesters clashed with authorities outside the privately run facility and Kim and Rep. Rob Menendez were turned away at the door.
Kim said on X that he was back at Delaney Hall with Sherrill and other members of the New Jersey delegation to meet with families of detainees and listen to community advocates. He said they were working together to make sure they were heard and to speak out with them, adding that Delaney Hall must be shut down immediately and that ICE cannot be allowed to continue operating in this way.
Sherrill said she was deeply disturbed by the conditions inside Delaney Hall and said she had contacted ICE to gain access to the facility. She said she has always opposed private detention facilities and has advocated against them, and added that she will continue to call for the closure of Delaney Hall because of reports like these.
The pressure on the Newark site has been building for months. Delaney Hall is a privately run facility that was revamped as an immigration detention center last year, and critics have repeatedly called for it to be closed. In February, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey said the center was dangerous for detainees, their loved ones and others who care about immigrants’ rights, fundamental constitutional freedoms and democracy. In May 2025, protesters including three congressional lawmakers and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka gathered outside the facility and clashed with authorities.
The latest confrontation centers on what is happening inside the building now. Hundreds of illegal immigrants are being held at Delaney Hall, and some detainees have gone on a hunger strike to protest what they say are poor conditions inside. That combination — locked out lawmakers, families speaking publicly and detainees refusing food — has turned Delaney Hall into a test of how much oversight ICE will allow at a facility already under intense scrutiny.
What happens next is whether federal officials open the doors. Sherrill said her office remains in close coordination with the federal delegation and with advocates, and the dispute now moves to ICE, which is being pressed to explain the conditions inside and decide whether members of Congress will be allowed in.
