Authorities on Sunday closed access to Delaney Hall, the New Jersey detention center where ICE is holding immigrants from the New York City area in conditions that have been described as inhumane, after another night of chaotic protests.
The situation got out of control around 9:30 p.m. on May 30, when a group of protesters broke through barricades that the New Jersey State Police had set up around the Newark facility to prevent confrontations with ICE agents. Police had established that security zone on Friday to reduce tensions after several days of clashes during which ICE agents beat and pepper-sprayed protesters and journalists.
However, tension continued to rise Saturday night as ICE maintained its operations at the center. Officers and even other protesters asked the group advancing toward the barricades to stop and wait for transport vehicles to arrive, but they ignored the calls.
Minutes later, police moved the barricades from the street to the sidewalk. The officers then retreated and a riot squad equipped with shields entered the area.
Authorities then fired tear gas, stun grenades, smoke canisters and rubber bullets at the protesters as the riot squad forced them back down Doremus Avenue.
“Back off,” the officers shouted as they pushed through the crowd with shields and batons. Some protesters responded by using large traffic cones as makeshift shields during sporadic clashes. Police also pushed them back using pepper spray.
Protesters responded by throwing water bottles, rocks and other objects while chanting anti-ICE slogans. Officers fired rubber projectiles and pepper balls into the crowd, leaving one man lying on the grass after being hit in the groin and abdomen.
As officers advanced, a constant hail of tear gas, stun grenades and smoke canisters covered the night sky. A dense cloud of smoke enveloped both protesters and journalists.
Some participants used traffic cones to put out the smoking devices, while others attempted to kick them back toward police lines.
In one of the most striking moments of the night, the police formation opened to allow the passage of horse-mounted officers, who advanced through the fog toward the crowd. Still, the protesters raised their makeshift shields to try to stop them.
The confrontation ended when police pushed protesters further away from the area. There, some gathered wooden planks and debris from nearby tracks and lit a bonfire in the middle of the road. The fire burned for about 30 minutes and sent a plume of black smoke into the sky before the crowd dispersed.
Amid the unrest, the Department of Homeland Security—rather than calling for calm—posted several messages on X highlighting its cooperation with local law enforcement and declaring in capital letters: “WE WILL NOT BACK BACK.”
“With the cooperation of New Jersey state and local law enforcement, law and order will prevail. The message to those participating in riots is clear: We will NOT tolerate riots or assaults on law enforcement,” said one of the posts, accompanied by images of FNTV coverage and photographs of an empty street.
The increase in violence led Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka to impose a curfew around Delaney Hall, citing public safety concerns and reports of people found in possession of weapons. Authorities closed the half-mile area around Doremus Avenue to pedestrian traffic until at least Sunday morning.
“Due to the deteriorating situation at Delaney Hall and the increasing need for police intervention, we must act immediately to protect public safety. We have already arrested several people and found weapons in their possession, demonstrating the seriousness of the threat,” Baraka stated.
The mayor warned that those who violated the curfew would face enforcement action. They would initially receive a warning to leave the area, but those who refused could be forcibly removed and receive citations or other legal measures.
On Sunday morning, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill announced that visitation inside Delaney Hall would resume later in the day and called for protests to remain peaceful.
“It is critical that everyone allows this to happen safely. I continue to call on DHS to provide adequate medical care and medications to all detainees, allow them to meaningfully review their cases, stop pressuring them to sign deportation papers, be transparent about who is being held in these facilities, and ultimately close this facility,” Sherrill said.
He also urged those who share these goals to continue protesting peacefully to avoid an escalation by ICE that generates more fear and uncertainty in communities.
Hours after the smoke cleared, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries made a congressional oversight visit to Delaney Hall alongside New Jersey U.S. Reps. Rob Melendez, LaMonica McIver and Josh Gottheimer.
Jeffries reported that the group spoke with two dozen detainees and observed conditions that they said “shocking the conscience,” including unsanitary living conditions, lack of adequate medical care and poor quality food.
“This is not America,” said Jeffries, who blamed President Donald Trump and his administration for, according to him, misleading the public about the true nature of the current immigration offensive.
“Donald Trump and his extreme administration promised to focus on violent criminals who are in the country illegally. They lied. Trump’s mass deportation machinery has persecuted American citizens and law-abiding immigrant families, including minors, parents and pregnant women detained at Delaney Hall,” he said.
Jeffries added that none of the people he spoke to during a more than hour-long visit fit into the “worst offenders” category. Many were law-abiding members of their communities, he explained, including tax-paying small business owners and an 18-year-old DACA recipient who was separated from her family just months before graduating high school.
“Delaney Hall must be closed immediately,” he concluded.
