ICE Detainees At NJ Prison Launch Hunger Strike, Refuse To Work

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — They aren’t striking for “better treatment” – they are doing it to demand their freedom. That was the explanation from hundreds of federal immigration detainees at a prison in New Jersey as they launched a hunger and labor strike that continues through the Memorial Day weekend.

The 1,000-bed prison at Delaney Hall in Newark is the first federal detention center to open under the second term of President Donald Trump, who has claimed that a nationwide crackdown is needed to push back against a “large-scale invasion” of illegal immigration.

Delaney Hall has seen a wave of controversy since then, including allegations of poor treatment of detainees and visitors, several arrests involving demonstrators, 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.

Its owner, the GEO Group, is one of the largest private prison companies in the nation.

On Friday, families of people detained at Delaney Hall in Newark rallied outside the privately run jail, alleging that prisoners are facing “dangerous conditions” such as medical neglect, no air conditioning during a heat wave and “rotten and spoiled meals.”

Detainees used their phones to call out to loved ones and speak through a bullhorn, announcing they are refusing to eat or comply with the GEO Group’s “$1 a day work program,” activists reported.

“We demand the immediate release of those with serious medical conditions, along with all young and elderly people,” the detainees said.

“We are not striking to demand better treatment and conditions – we are doing this to demand freedom,” the detainees added, calling for Gov. Mikie Sherrill to visit the prison.

Immigration activists continued their vigil outside the prison on Saturday in support of the hunger strikers, reporting that they have lost all phone and tablet contact with detainees.

“ICE claims they are treating people fairly, just like they claim their behavior is constitutional and above the law when they burst through car windows, chase schoolchildren or publicly execute citizens in the street,” said Amy Torres of New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice (NJAIJ).

The group said hunger strikes are one of the few ways that ICE detainees can make their voices collectively heard while imprisoned. Activists pointed out that ICE has set its own threshold for what it considers a “hunger strike,” including forgoing nine consecutive meals or going without food and water for 72 hours.

“So whatever imaginary metric ICE wants to assign to hunger strikes is one we will outright reject,” Torres said. “The people in Delaney Hall have decried conditions from day one. They are now using their last available tool to bring attention to the deadly and dangerous conditions inside.”

It isn’t the first time that detainees at Delaney Hall have gone on hunger strike. According to the NJAIJ:

“In June 2025, people detained at Delaney Hall rose up in a riot protesting the lack of meals and drinking water. Prior to the uprising, those in detention reported frozen and incomplete meals with some individuals receiving only a hot dog while others would receive the bun. That riot resulted in a violent suppression where additional federal agents were called into the facility with teargas and riot gear.”

During the fracas, four detainees escaped Delaney Hall after breaking through a partition made of chicken wire and plaster – setting off a regional police search for the missing prisoners.

According to Eyes on ICE New Jersey – a group of local residents who have been holding protests and running aid stations for visitors outside the prison – there are plans to keep a 24-hour “solidarity presence” at Delaney Hall while the hunger strike continues.

Despite the risks they are facing, detainees have reported being in high spirits, strengthened and empowered by the knowledge that their families and community are standing with them, the group said.

FEDS, PRISON OWNER DENY ALLEGATIONS

Nearly 300 men and women at Delaney Hall released a group letter last week, alleging that they are facing “inhumane” conditions including bad food, medical neglect and problems with visitation.

“It is public knowledge that agents have arrested individuals with physical limitations such as: deaf, mute, blind individuals, elderly persons and even pregnant women,” the detainees’ letter states.

“We see young people with approved juvenile status cases, with whom we are living in detention centers,” the letter continues. “There is also a high spread of COVID-19 in detention centers, and the flu is constant among detainees, which could lead to outbreaks of illnesses or epidemics.”

• Related: ICE Detainees At NJ Prison Plead For Help In Smuggled Letter

Reached for comment about the letter, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Patch that federal authorities are “applying the law as written.”

“No lawbreakers in the history of human civilization have been treated better than illegal aliens in the United States,” they said.

DHS spokespeople continued:

“It is a longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody. This includes medical, dental, and mental health intake screening within 12 hours of arriving at each detention facility, a full health assessment within 14 days of entering ICE custody or arrival at a facility, and access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care. This is the best health care many aliens have received in their entire lives. Meals are certified by dieticians. Ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority at ICE.”

The GEO Group also denied the allegations from detainees, claiming that they were instigated by “politically motivated” outside groups as part of a campaign to abolish ICE and end federal immigration detention by attacking the federal government's immigration facility contractors.

Here’s what a company spokesperson had to say when asked to comment on the detainees’ letter:

“In all instances, our support services are monitored by ICE, including by on-site agency personnel, and other organizations within the Department of Homeland Security to ensure compliance with ICE’s detention standards and contract requirements regarding the treatment and services ICE detainees receive. In the event issues are identified, we quickly resolve all of ICE’s concerns as required by ICE’s Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan. The support services GEO provides include around-the-clock access to medical care, in-person and virtual legal and family visitation, general and legal library access, translation services, dietician-approved meals, religious and specialty diets, recreational amenities, and opportunities to practice their religious beliefs.”

According to the GEO Group, locations where GEO provides health care services, prisoners are given access to physicians, nurses, dentists, psychologists and psychiatrists, and are given “ready access to off-site medical specialists” such as imaging facilities, emergency medical services, and local community hospitals.

Meanwhile, an ICE spokesperson said the agency’s role is to “uphold and apply the law.”

“When an immigration judge rules that an alien has no legal right to remain in this country, we are obligated under the Constitution to execute that removal,” the agency told Patch.

“Such claims are entirely unfounded and reflect the misinformation being spread by activist groups seeking to undermine federal immigration law,” ICE continued. “Our officers are confronting a staggering 1,300% increase in assaults while carrying out their duty to arrest dangerous criminals, including murderers, rapists and gang members.”

Advocates and family members of ICE detainees have pushed back against the claim that most of the immigrants imprisoned at facilities like Delaney Hall are “criminals,” however.

In April, data research organization Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse reported that out of 60,311 people held in ICE detention across the nation, about 70.8 percent had no criminal conviction before being apprehended – and many of those who do were convicted only of minor offenses such as traffic violations.

Earlier this month, a data analysis from NJ Advance Media found that more than three in four people detained in the state since January 2025 had no criminal record.

CONGRESSIONAL VISITS

Several U.S. Congress members from the area have made oversight visits to the prison over the past two weeks, concurring with the allegations from inmates.

Reps. Rob Menendez Jr. and Nellie Pou visited Delaney Hall on May 11, later sharing detainees’ complaints about inadequate medical care, dirty air and low-quality food, Gothamist reported.

Pou said there was just one doctor and a handful of nurse practitioners in the facility’s medical clinic. The visitation process with family and friends is also a leading complaint from detainees.

“What they are doing inside of there is trying to create conditions where people are so demoralized that they will sign voluntary departure papers to not have to be in there anymore,” Menendez alleged.

“They're trying to break people so people give up,” he added.

Menendez also joined two of his Democratic colleagues – U.S. Reps. LaMonica McIver and Analilia Mejia – for an oversight tour of the prison on May 18.

The wife of one of the detainees – a 31-year-old Peruvian man who has been held in the facility since February – told reporters that detainees have been served rotten food, including a meal with “live worms,” “green sausages” and “chunky” milk.

“We just came out of there and I will tell you that everything in that letter was 100 percent correct,” said McIver, who is still facing federal assault charges connected to a scuffle outside the prison last year.

Mejia, who was recently elected to fill Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s unexpired term in Congress, has also been a vocal critic of ICE and Delaney Hall. After her visit to the prison, she reported that the “injustice and suffering are visible in plain sight.”

“My worst fears are confirmed,” Mejia said.

• Related: Detainee Population Surges At ICE Prison In NJ After It Reopens Under Trump
• Related: 2 Prison Companies With NJ Ties May Score Big Profits From Deportations
• Related: ICE Office In Essex County Suburb Sparks Outcry From Activists

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