Protesters and lawmakers say conditions inside Newark detention center are inhumane

⚠️ Democratic lawmakers described harsh conditions inside Newark’s Delaney Hall detention center.

➡️ Protesters claim detainees launched a hunger strike over food and medical treatment.

🔴 Homeland Security denied abuse claims and accused protesters of obstructing officers.

Democratic members of Congress who toured a federal immigration detention center in Newark on Wednesday said detainees are living in dangerous and degrading conditions — allegations the Trump administration strongly denies.

On Wednesday, New Jersey 101.5 reported how President Trump derided the ICE demonstration in New Jersey as "paid-for protesters." Attention returned to the for-profit detention facility this week when Gov. Mikie Sherrill and other Democratic federal lawmakers visited the site on Memorial Day.

The escalating fight over conditions at Delaney Hall has become one of New Jersey’s highest-profile immigration flashpoints, drawing protests, clashes with federal agents and sharp political divisions over immigration enforcement in the state.

U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, a Manhattan Democrat, said detainees at Delaney Hall are being given small portions of food that “very often” contain maggots and that the only medication they receive is Tylenol.

One woman, he said, had a lump in her breast but was still waiting on a mammogram more than a month into her detention. Another detainee was suffering from colon cancer but wasn’t receiving any treatment.

“The bottom line is, if you are human, if you are American, you cannot support what is going on here,” said U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, another Manhattan Democrat who toured the facility Wednesday. “They’re living in jail conditions, and none of these people are criminals.”

U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, another Manhattan Democrat, described conditions as “inhumane" after spending about an hour inside the facility.

“We will shut this center down," he vowed. “We will shut it down.”

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Newark protests intensified as detainees reportedly joined hunger strike

The lawmakers addressed protesters and family members of detainees demonstrating outside the facility’s security gate after their visits.

More than 50 people held signs saying “Stop Family Separation” and chanted “Free Them All” and other slogans. Some shouted directly at the armed and helmet-wearing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers standing outside, calling them “cowards” and “idiots.”

The protests began Friday and have been tense at times.

On Monday, U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, said he was pepper-sprayed as he and New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill led a delegation of Democratic officials who tried to visit detainees at Delaney Hall but were denied entry.

“Instead of engaging with me and others about the poor conditions, ICE sent in an armored vehicle and a line of armed agents that only poured gasoline on the fire,” Kim posted on social media after Monday’s clashes. “Civilians were tackled and restrained, and agents fired pepper balls and spray into the crowd.”

Gabriela Soto said Wednesday that her husband was among the detainees who participated in the hunger strike before he was transferred to another facility.

“At first it was just 300. Then it became a little bit more. Now, every single detainee inside there is participating. Every single one,” she said, wearing a black shirt that said “Abolish ICE.”

Amol Sinha, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, said his organization has heard “horror stories” of detainees, including pregnant women, not getting proper medical treatment for their health conditions.

“Cruelty is the point,” he said.

Trump administration rejects abuse claims at Newark detention center

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, denied any hunger strike, abuse or poor conditions inside the center and dismissed the criticisms as political posturing.

“The fact is, we’re giving them the calories they want,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Wednesday of detainees at Delaney Hall. “This isn’t Holiday Inn.”

In a follow-up statement, DHS said two protesters were arrested for assaulting, resisting and impeding federal officers after ICE officers were sprayed “with an unknown chemical substance” Tuesday night.

“These rioters have OBSTRUCTED law enforcement operations — a felony and a crime,” the statement read. “Local police have refused to answer calls to help our law enforcement. We will not allow violent rioters to slow ICE down. Law and order will be restored.”

President Donald Trump defended the center's operations and criticized opponents.

“We run the finest facilities anywhere in the world of their type,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting with Mullin. “There’s nobody that runs a facility like we do.”

Delaney Hall has been a repeated source of protests and arrests

Located along an industrial stretch of Newark Bay and run by a private prison company, Delaney Hall has been a frequent flashpoint of protests and clashes between immigrant rights advocates and immigration enforcement officials.

Ras Baraka and U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, a New Jersey Democrat, were among those arrested during protests when the 1,000-bed facility opened last May.