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The Facility: A For-Profit Prison at the Center of a National Scandal
Delaney Hall, located in Newark, New Jersey, is not run by the federal government. It is operated by GEO Group — a for-profit prison corporation that received a $1 billion, 15-year contract from ICE to reopen and run the facility, making it the largest immigration detention center on the East Coast. The irony is deafening: the acting director of ICE is a former GEO Group executive. David Venturella spent 12 years at GEO Group before returning to the federal government, and has now been appointed by the Trump administration as ICE's new acting director — the man who will now oversee contracts with his former employer. Critics have called it a "classic example of the revolving-door phenomena."
GEO Group's CEO acknowledged the opportunity plainly. During an earnings call shortly after Trump's election, GEO Group chairman George Zoley declared it "a unique moment in our company's history" and said the company was "well-positioned to scale up." In a separate call, the new CEO called it "an unprecedented time." Seems as though he was right. GEO Group's first-quarter 2026 revenue rose 17 percent over the prior year. Taxpayers are paying an estimated $10 million a day across all these facilities, or roughly $15 billion a year, to imprison people in conditions that can only be described as inhumane.
The Conditions Inside: Worms, No Medicine, No Light
Detainees inside Delaney Hall have reported rotting food with worms and maggots. When members of Congress finally got inside, they corroborated what detainees had been saying. Representative Frank Pallone said he saw "moldy food" and "people needing immediate medical attention who can't see a doctor for over a week or who can't get their medicine."
The ACLU of New Jersey has documented "horror stories" of detainees (including pregnant women) not receiving proper medical treatment for their health conditions. A miscarriage was reported inside the facility. Victims in these conditions are moved across facilities and across state lines with no accounting for their whereabouts.
Electronic communication has been cut off, access to the commissary has ended, and even basic medical care has been halted. The benches where families once waited outside have been physically removed. Visitation has been stripped away entirely. New Jersey's own Health Department attempted to inspect the facility and was denied a full inspection and were only allowed to conduct only a food service review.
The Hunger Strike: Ten Days and Counting
Although the limited coverage has been focused on the clashes protest have been having with ICE. The focus should be on the detainees and the hunger strike. Roughly 300 people at Delaney Hall launched a hunger strike and labor strike, refusing to perform the jobs that keep the facility running, including cooking, cleaning, and repairs, despite being paid as little as $1 a day and sometimes nothing at all. About half of all those detained by ICE work inside facilities, according to Georgetown Law. The hunger strike was a direct attack on that business model.
The broader strike has spread to over 500 detainees across multiple facilities nationwide. The detainees' own statement made their position clear: "We are not striking to demand better treatment and conditions. We are doing this to demand freedom."
The targeted retaliation came quickly. Martino Soto, identified as one of the organizers, was secretly transferred to the Elizabeth Detention Center — a facility about 15 minutes away that has no access to natural light. Representative Mendez promised his pregnant wife that he would find her husband, and he kept that promise by sleeping on the ground outside the facility until he was able to locate him. Some of According to lawmakers who visited the facility, some people who have already signed self-deportation notices but are still being held, not for legal reasons, but to prevent them from organizing and speaking about conditions inside.
The government's response was to deny it entirely. DHS claimed there was "NO hunger strike at Delaney Hall" and "no subprime conditions." Per ICE's own policy, a detainee observed to have not eaten for 72 hours is considered on a hunger strike and must be referred to medical authorities. The detainees have now been on hunger strike for 10 days.
The detainees’ demands are as follows: They are requesting a meeting with the governor, the release of all medically vulnerable individuals, the release of young people and elderly detainees, and lastly they are demanding freedom.
The detainees are being held at Delaney Hall despite, according to advocates and legal observers, being denied meaningful due process. Even in cases where individuals are alleged to be in the country without authorization, they have not been given a timely opportunity to appear before a court.
Advocates argue that, under constitutional protections, individuals should either be released or afforded proper legal proceedings rather than held indefinitely without adjudication. However, the Trump administration prioritizies political spectacle over constitutional rights.
The Protesters: Why They Came and What They've Faced
To increase pressure on ICE and its contracted facilities, organizations and families of detainees began asking for public solidarity actions outside Delaney Hall in support of those on hunger strike.
The first large-scale demonstration outside the facility began on Sunday, May 24, with smaller gatherings reported as early as May 23. Protesters arrived with mutual aid, including water, masks, face shields, and medical tents. What followed has been a nightly escalation of force that has grown more severe with each passing day.
On May 29th clashes between the authorities and protestors intensified. State police troopers, including some on horseback, charged demonstrators as they tried to clear a path for vehicles. Tear gas, flash-bang grenades, smoke canisters, and rubber bullets were fired in continuous volleys as officers used shields to drive protesters back. Demonstrators said they were boxed in by law enforcement and given minutes to disperse before "tear gas, pepper balls, and possibly rubber bullets" were fired into the crowd., ICE joined the ranks of state police in a coordinated action timed to cover a shift change, and during that window, ambulances were seen leaving the facility carrying people witnesses described as unconscious.
Senator Andy Kim placed himself between the ICE officers and the crowd to try to de-escalate. ICE agents hit him with pepper spray. He had been moving back and forth along that line all day. They knew exactly who he was.
The Official Story
The New Jersey Attorney General issued a statement claiming that protesters had deployed fireworks and thrown gas canisters at law enforcement. Organizers and eyewitnesses dispute this account entirely, saying the crowd was actively trying to disperse when it was kettled and could not move. Video documentation and testimony from elected officials who were present contradict the state's version of events.
Governor Mikie Sherrill went to Delaney Hall on Memorial Day to inspect the facility herself. She was denied entry. Lawmakers who did gain access, including Representatives Nadler, Goldman, Espaillat, Pallone, and Senator Kim, described dire and inhumane conditions after touring the facility. Those lawmakers who never reached the ground are now just repeating the state's narrative.
The legal challenges have been building in parallel. The city of Newark sued GEO Group in early 2025, alleging the facility was reopened without the necessary permits and inspections. That case has been referred to mediation and remains unresolved. The facility has been operating throughout.
What Comes Next
The reconciliation package currently moving through Congress would give ICE an additional $70 billion on top of the $170 billion already provided last year, without any accountability measures attached. That money would expand the same infrastructure that has produced Delaney Hall, including for-profit detention, opaque transfers, and limited oversight, along with conditions that have driven people to the point of refusing to eat.
At least 18 people have died in ICE custody in the first four months of 2026 alone, following 31 deaths in 2025 — the highest annual total in two decades.
The call from those on the ground is direct: come to Delaney Hall if you are on the East Coast. Show up at protests in your community. Demand that your congressional representatives refuse to fund ICE, DHS, or CBP with another dollar.
Over 500 people in facilities across this country are telling the same story with their bodies, refusing food, refusing labor, and refusing to be disappeared quietly. The least the rest of us can do is refuse to look away.
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