On May 22, 2026, in Newark, New Jersey, immigrants detained in Delaney Hall, a private prison run by GEO Group used for holding immigrants detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), held a month-long hunger and labor strike protesting conditions inside the facility. Detainees have been given expired food with worms or mold, sleep on the floor in overcrowded rooms, have been denied medical care for serious conditions, and have reportedly been abused by guards. Protests supporting the strikers escalated outside the facility with over 90 arrests. Conditions inside the facility worsened, with reports of batons, pepper spray, and tear gas being used against strikers and multiple ambulances arriving at the facility throughout the strike. The strikes ended due to actions taken by guards to intimidate, segregate, and discipline strikers, such as by putting strike leaders in solitary confinement, threatening to force-feed strikers, and transporting strikers to unknown facilities around the country.
Some protesters blocked ICE vehicles from entering or exiting the facility. ICE agents attacked protesters and journalists with batons, pepper spray, and tasers. Local officials including Governor Mikie Sherrill were denied access to the facility, and Senator Andy Kim was pepper sprayed by ICE while trying to de-escalate.
Governor Sherrill ordered the New Jersey State Police (NJSP) to take over operations outside the facility for ICE, and she also established "protest zones" for protesters to move inside, while Newark mayor Ras Baraka established an overnight curfew surrounding Delaney Hall. Riot police were then repeatedly deployed and used batons, pepper spray, tear gas, flash grenades, rubber bullets, horseback police, SWAT teams, armored vehicles, and undercover police to disperse, kettle, arrest, and criminally charge protesters who refused to leave, with many journalists being injured or arrested.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has characterized protesters as being outside agitators and rioters, saying "There is NO hunger strike at Delaney Hall. There are NO subprime conditions or abuse at the facility." Governor Sherrill accused some protesters of being from "national extremist groups" without naming specific groups, and Mayor Baraka has criticized both protesters and police, saying the police's actions were "in some cases, unconstitutional." Municipal, state, and federal actions have sparked significant backlash from advocacy groups and the political left.
Background
Facility conditions
Selenia Destefani, the managing attorney and CEO of Nova Law Group which represents Delaney Hall detainees, said "The conditions are brutal [...] People just sleep on the floor — overcrowded rooms, cold showers, no food, extremely cold in the cells with no blankets," which is corroborated by inmates. Alex Minogue, another attorney at Nova Law Group, says detainees with medical conditions such as cancer and diabetes are not provided medical care. Nova Law Group employees and letters released by inmates also claimed that food is being served expired, moldy, or with worms in it, and that disease was persistently spreading within the facility. In one letter, hundreds of detainees expressed desperation to get out of Delaney Hall, "offering to leave the country by any means just to escape the conditions inside" according to the Rolling Stone. According to activists, 10 complaints have been made against one specific guard, who continues to work inside the facility, who allegedly sexually assaulted female detainees. On watch dog report said the recent closure of the facility's dining hall "forces prisoners to eat all three meals while perched on their beds or foot lockers in their cramped cells, which at 70 square feet are less than half the size of a parking space."
Detainees also play a role in maintaining the facility in exchange for roughly US$1 per day.
The United States Department of Homeland Security denied allegations of maltreatment or poor living conditions in the facility, saying "No lawbreakers in the history of human civilization have been better treated than illegal aliens [in Delaney Hall]." Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary Markwayne Mullin defended facility conditions, saying "This isn't Holiday Inn."
On May 28, 2026, New Jersey health inspectors were allowed to tour Delaney Halls's kitchen and food storage areas and reported, "Overall sanitation and physical condition of the production kitchen and warehousing areas were observed to be satisfactory and free from signs of rodent or vermin activity at the time of this inspection." They also said "it is impossible to form an accurate assessment and make a reliable evaluation" without full access to Delaney Hall and emphasized parts of the report found that food temperatures were not appropriate.
Timeline
May 22: Day one of hunger strike On Friday May 22, around 300 people inside Delaney Hall announced a joint labor and hunger strike. The hunger strike was led by Martin Soto, who since his arrival in the facility, has been placed in solitary confinement (referred to by ICE as "disciplinary segregation") as a result of being the leader of the strike, Martin was arrested months prior while buying diapers for his kids. NJ.com reported that as they spoke to Martin, he rolled up his sleeve and showed them purple and yellow bruises on his right arm, swelling on his wrists, and scrapes on his ankles, which he said was caused by rough handling by ICE agents and handcuffs that were too tight. Martin also said his chest hurt, likely as a result of a heavy chain that had been wrapped around his body by ICE agents.
Martin's wife, Gabriela Soto, started a small protest outside the facility. Gabriela said "I am four months pregnant, and my husband isn't there [...] He missed my daughter's fourth birthday. He missed our son's first birthday. He missed my son's first steps." According to NJ.com, "It all quickly snowballed from there." There have been ongoing protests outside the facility along with people waiting to see relatives who are detained. A tent had been set up for the prior year outside the facility to support the families of detainees by advocacy group Eyes on ICE. Gabriela claimed she saw ICE agents slam Martin against a window after the strike and protests started.
The goals of the protesters include the immediate release of all detained people, especially the elderly, pregnant, young, and those with serious medical conditions; a meeting with New Jersey governor Mikie Sherrill; improved facility conditions; Habeas corpus for immigration hearings, allowing people to pursue their immigration cases outside of detention; and an end to coercive pressure for detainees to "self-deport."
In the year leading up to the strike, Newark mayor Ras Baraka said the protests outside Delaney Hall had been peaceful until in the days following the strike, "a sharp and troubling shift occurred. ICE increased its presence and engaged protesters in ways that escalated tensions and led to unnecessary confrontation," which was corroborated by Slate. Journalists and protesters from across the country arrived at Delaney Hall in the following days, including people who took planes and trains from other states. But most protesters were from New Jersey or New York State, since Newark is close to the border of New York. Members of the Democratic Socialists of America, specifically its North New Jersey chapter, mobilized to support protests outside the facility shortly after the strike began.
May 25: Government official pepper sprayed
On Monday May 25 (Memorial Day), New Jersey Senator Andy Kim, and Representatives Rob Menendez and Frank Pallone visited the facility. Kim and Menendez reported unsanitary bathroom facilities, poor medical care, and abuse by guards. Pallone, who also visited earlier in the year, described worsening conditions and stated that "People are languishing without knowing if they'll have enough to eat or if they'll be able to receive medical care if they get sick." A WNYC and Gothamist journalist said there were reports of poor access to medical care and retaliatory measures taken against strikers. Kim denounced the conditions inside the facility as "shameful," citing spoiled food and threats of retaliation against strikers. Kim said high schoolers were in the facility, and that taxpayers spend $100,000 per year on each person detained in the facility.
DHS has denied these claims, with DHS Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis saying, "This is nothing more than a political stunt by New Jersey sanctuary politicians for fundraising clicks [...] There is NO hunger strike at Delaney Hall. There are NO subprime conditions or abuse at the facility."
At one point, ICE agents started driving a vehicle towards a crowd of protesters blocking the vehicle. Kim stood with his hands raised in the air between protesters and the ICE agents in an attempt to de-escalate and stop ICE agents from hitting protesters with the vehicle. ICE agents then used pepper spray and pepper balls on the crowd, and Kim was caught in the crossfire. Medics helped Kim recover from pepper spray shortly after. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer shared a photo of Kim after the incident alongside a photo of senator Alex Padilla forced to the ground and handcuffed last year, writing "When even U.S. Senators are targeted, every American should understand: no one is safe from ICE’s abuses." This post was criticized by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary Markwayne Mullin.
On the same day, New Jersey governor Mikie Sherrill was denied access. Her office later announced that the New Jersey Department of Health "was denied full access and was allowed to inspect only a limited part of the facility" when attempting to conduct a health inspection.
Throughout the protests, detainees have been visible in windows from outside the facility. A Slate journalist noted a tone change in the crowd each day, with more serious protesters arriving during sunset often wearing personal protective equipment and black bloc coverings.
May 26: Clashes with ICE
On Tuesday May 26, there were clashes between protesters and ICE agents during the night. Protesters set up barricades at one entrance to the facility where GEO Group employees would come and go. At the other side of the facility used by ICE vehicles, protesters linked arms and stood in the way. In response, ICE agents would "rush" into the crowd and pepper spray protesters, beat them with batons, and brandish tasers. A reporter with The Nation reported receiving a "full dose of pepper spray" while filming ICE agents chasing and wrestling a protester to the ground. Shortly after, agents chased another protester across the street and down to the train tracks parallel to the facility, tasing him, pepper spraying him, and detaining him.
Ambulances entered and left the facility throughout the day. According to The Nation:
May 27: Protesters construct barrier, pushed into traffic
On Wednesday May 27, Trump administration 'border czar' Tom Homan said if the hunger hunger strikes continue, he would "force-feed" detainees. He also said "Hunger strikes never work. We are not going to change what we do because someone goes on a hunger strike," and he called protesters outside the facility a "disgrace to this nation."
On the same day, protests escalated outside the facility; amNewYork described the scene:
The barricade erected by protesters was destroyed by ICE agents, who used batons. Later that night and into the early hours of Thursday, one group of protesters in the "small minority" blocked trucks passing by outside the facility. Another group of protesters argued their fight was not with the truckers, leading to a confrontation until eventually the streets cleared and truckers were able to access the road.