HUNGER AND LABOR STRIKE AT DELANEY HALL: RELEASE ELDERLY, YOUNG, SERIOUSLY ILL & INJURED
Second Coordinated Strike Within 1 Year Anniversary of Delaney Hall’s Opening

Newark, NJ [5/22/26] - Earlier this morning, families of people detained in Delaney Hall hosted a rally calling out the dangerous conditions inside, including medical neglect, lack of air conditioning, and lack of food – including rotten and spoiled meals. As part of this morning’s rally, people in detention used their phones to call out to loved ones and took turns speaking through the bullhorn. In one of the calls, those in detention announced a hunger and labor strike, calling for a complete investigation of the facility, its operations, and for Governor Sherrill to visit to discuss protections that keep communities safe from ICE.

“We are not striking to demand better treatment and conditions,” those in detention said in a statement released at the rally. “We are doing this to demand freedom.”

Families, advocates, and allies will be holding an overnight vigil starting Friday, May 22nd at 3 p.m. through to tomorrow morning in solidarity with the strike’s launch.

On May 18, 2026, Representatives LaMonica McIver, Rob Menendez, and Analilia Mejia conducted an unannounced visit to Delaney Hall in response to claims of abuse and torture from people inside. The Representatives confirmed that all claims were accurate, documenting insufficient food, inadequate medical care, and overall inhumane conditions.

Following her visit, Representative McIver stated, “In an act of real bravery and obvious desperation, detainees wrote a letter about the conditions that they are facing here at Delaney Hall. Not enough food, no medical care, and conditions they call torture—conditions any of us would recognize as torture.”

Hunger strikes are one of the few tools available to people detained by ICE and historically have been effective in enacting change and raising awareness. In an attempt to deter and suppress these strikes from growing, ICE has set its own threshold for what it considers a true hunger strike, including forgoing nine consecutive meals or going without food and water for 72 hours – a nearly biologically impossible feat for people already undernourished and medically neglected. Only after those 72 hours will someone in detention be medically evaluated and possibly force fed.

“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 school children, or publicly execute citizens in the street,” said Amy Torres with New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. “So whatever imaginary metric ICE wants to assign to hunger strikes is one we will outright reject. 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.”

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. As part of the fracas, four people escaped Delaney Hall after breaking through a partition made of chicken wire and plaster. That escape, advocates noted, underscored the outrage over GEO Group,  the owner and operator of Delaney Hall who disregarded local permitting and inspections in order to rush the facility open. David Venturella, a former principal of GEO Group, will be named as acting ICE Director later this month, further illustrating the profit-to-politics pipeline that has become a hallmark of the Trump Administration.

In December 2025, Jean Wilson Brutus was pronounced dead within 24 hours of arriving at Delaney Hall, prompting calls for an independent investigation and autopsy. Wilson Brutus’ death was only reported by ICE a full week after his passing.

“We demand Governor Mikie Sherrill come inside the facility to meet with us. We demand the immediate release of those with serious medical conditions, along with all young and elderly people,” according to the hunger strikers’ statement.

Earlier this year, Governor Sherrill signed a modified version of the Immigrant Protections Package into law, notably watering down protections that would allow continued cooperation between New Jersey law enforcement and federal immigration agents. The changes, advocates say, rob due process from immigrants who are simply charged with a crime but have no recourse through the criminal legal system before being handed over to ICE.

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