ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — The protests continue at Delaney Hall.
Labor Eyes on ICE, a local alliance of union members and immigration advocates, rallied outside the Newark-based federal immigration detention center on Sunday.
According to spokespeople, the coalition is calling for the "complete abolition of ICE," freedom for everyone currently being held in immigrant detention, the closing of all immigrant detention centers and an "end to mass incarceration."
Last weekend's demonstration is the latest in a series of monthly protests that have been held by the Labor Eyes on ICE alliance since the summer of 2025.
"We stand in solidarity with those detained inside Delaney Hall, and in similar facilities around the country, but we also stand with our fellow union activists in Minnesota and elsewhere whose First Amendment rights have been violated by the Trump administration simply because they opposed the ICE surge in the Twin Cities," noted Karl Schwartz, one of the initiators of the Labor Eyes on ICE alliance.
Some labor groups that are supporting the alliance include HPAE Local 5094; OPEIU Local 153; URA-AFT Local 1766; Rutgers AAUP-AFT; PSC-CUNY; Newark Library Workers, AFSCME Local 2298; Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union, PTLFC-AAUP-AFT, Local 6324; Washington-Baltimore News Guild, CWA Local 32035; AAUP, Princeton; CWA Local 1037; and United Council of Academics (UCAN) at NJIT.
Other groups that attended Sunday's rally at Delaney Hall included the North New Jersey regional chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, which shared a video taken at the scene.
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Delaney Hall formerly held immigration detainees for the federal government from 2011 to 2017 under the Obama administration, until it closed and was turned into a halfway house. The prison was the first federal detention center to reopen under the second term of President Donald Trump. It is owned and operated by the GEO Group, one of the largest private prison companies in the nation.
The prison has seen a wave of controversy since it began holding ICE detainees again, including allegations of poor treatment, federal charges against the city's mayor and a U.S. congresswoman, a high-profile prison escape, and a detainee who died in federal custody.
Hundreds of detainees recently launched a hunger and labor strike at the prison. Detainees say they are facing "inhumane" conditions, such as a lack of medical care, bad food and an unfair court system. They continue to demand their freedom, including the immediate release of elderly, young and pregnant people, as well as those with serious medical conditions.
Homeland Security and prison spokespeople have denied the allegations of mistreatment. When reached for comment about the allegations at Delaney Hall, a Homeland Security spokesperson recently told Patch that "this is the best health care many aliens have received in their entire lives," pointing to mandatory assessments for new arrivals, access to "24-hour emergency care" and meals that are "certified by dieticians."
The accusations have also caught the attention of President Trump, who claimed that the United States runs the "finest facilities anywhere in the world of their type."
U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Republican who chaired Trump's re-election campaign in New Jersey, has also disputed the allegations from activists.
Last week, Van Drew chaired a hearing in the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight to discuss "false narratives" about the conditions at Delaney Hall.
"I've seen them with my own eyes," the congressman said. "I walked the facility. I met with the staff… And what I saw goes against all the narratives that you hear and that that the Democrats have tried to say about this facility."
U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver – a Democrat who represents Newark – accused Van Drew of lying about what he saw, saying the allegations from detainees have been supported by other Congress members who visited the prison. Those allegations include "unsafe conditions, rotten food and brutality from guards at the facility," she said.
"Delaney Hall is in my district," McIver said. "I have visited many times, often in response to reports of neglect and abuse. What I have seen there is cruel and inhumane."
'HE WAS TAKEN WHILE BUYING DIAPERS'
In addition to seeking the release of all those detained at Delaney Hall, the Labor Eyes on ICE coalition is calling for the release of Martin Soto, one of roughly 300 detainees involved in the May hunger and labor strike who they allege was transferred to another prison in New Jersey as retaliation for helping to lead the strike.
A petition seeking Soto's release has seen more than 12,000 signatures. Several labor unions have also written letters to the Newark ICE office in his support.
"We seek the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in the case of Martin Soto and his release from Elizabeth Detention Center," said Geoff Johnson of the Labor Eyes on ICE coalition and the Professional Staff Congress (PSC).
"Martin was taken into ICE custody on Feb. 1 while purchasing diapers, and he has been separated from his family since that day," Johnson said. "Martin should be granted immediate discretionary release so he can return home and continue pursuing his immigration case."
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