Overview
- Violent confrontations returned to Delaney Hall over the weekend, with federal officers using pepper balls and spray as protesters tried to block facility vehicles and at least four people were arrested on June 5 for assault and obstruction while a photographer was struck by a car and taken to hospital.
- New Jersey has escalated legal pressure by suing GEO Group, the private operator, alleging the company denied state health inspectors full access to investigate claims about detainee care.
- Detainees and advocates say there was a coordinated hunger and labor strike and that prisoners were served spoiled food, including reports of maggots, while ICE and GEO publicly deny an active hunger strike and defend conditions inside the 1,000-bed facility.
- Local policing has shifted: Newark scaled back its police presence to avoid guarding a private site and Gov. Mikie Sherrill sent state troopers to set up protest zones, and the federal government dispatched border czar Tom Homan to help de-escalate talks.
- The episode spotlights broader questions about private detention oversight, possible facility closure, and the public-safety tradeoffs cities face when federal immigration operations rely on contracted security.