Hunger Strike at Newark's Delaney Hall ICE Facility Erupts Into Street Clashes as Families Allege Abuse

A hunger strike inside Delaney Hall, a 1,000-bed immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, has spilled into days of confrontation outside its gates, with families of detainees alleging mistreatment and federal agents firing pepper balls and mace at demonstrators. Some 300 people held at the GEO Group-run facility stopped eating last Friday in what advocates described as a peaceful hunger and labor strike to protest spoiled food and deteriorating conditions.

Relatives and supporters said this week that detainees inside Delaney Hall have been subjected to pepper spray and physical force as tensions escalated. They described people sleeping on the floor of overcrowded rooms, cold showers, missed meals and detainees with serious medical conditions — including cancer and diabetes — unable to obtain care. The accounts could not be independently verified inside the facility, which is run by a private contractor under a federal immigration contract.

The unrest has repeatedly drawn protesters to the street outside the center, where they have clashed with armed, masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. Demonstrators blocked unmarked government vehicles and tussled with agents, some of whom deployed gas canisters and batons, according to accounts of the scene. On Monday, federal agents fired pepper balls and mace at the crowd, and authorities arrested six protesters after one confrontation.

The standoff has become a flashpoint in the broader fight over the Trump administration's immigration enforcement, which has leaned heavily on expanded detention capacity, much of it operated by private prison companies like GEO Group. Members of Congress have visited the site amid the protests, and advocates have demanded access to detainees and an independent review of conditions inside.

GEO Group and federal officials have faced mounting questions about overcrowding and the use of force at the facility, which has rapidly become one of the most visible symbols of the detention buildup in the Northeast. Critics argue that the conditions described by families are the predictable result of packing facilities beyond their capacity; supporters of the enforcement push say detention is a necessary tool while immigration cases are adjudicated.

What began as a quiet protest over food has, in the space of a week, grown into one of the most closely watched standoffs of the current enforcement surge. Detainees framed their refusal to eat as a last resort after complaints about spoiled meals and inadequate medical care went unanswered, organizers said, and the sight of relatives massing at the gates — only to be met with pepper balls — has drawn local officials, immigration attorneys and national news crews to a corner of Newark that few were watching a month ago.

For now, the hunger strike and the protests show little sign of easing. Each clash outside the gates has drawn more attention to what is happening behind them — and to a detention system expanding faster than the scrutiny meant to keep it in check.