Elected officials call Delaney Hall visit an 'eye-opener'
By: Ricardo Kaulessar
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... Ne Jersey Representatives Nellie Pou and Rob Menendez paid a morning visit on May 11 [2026] to Delaney Hall, the Newark detention center.
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The visit was to meet with detainees arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and check on conditions in the facility as part of Pou and Menendez's congressional oversight duties. Both addressed the media before entering the facility.
..... Pou, who represents parts of Bergen, Hudson and Passaic counties, including her hometown of Paterson, was making her first visit.
..... "I'm very interested in seeing how the process works, what's going on, what the conditions are. have the opportunity to be able to speak to some of our constituents," Pou said.
..... Menedez was making another visit among several he has made since his first on on May 9, 2025. which gained wide media attention. That's when Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested by federal law enforcement on the orders of then-U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche (now acting U.S. attorney) which visitant the facility with Menendez, and fellow New Jersey Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman and LaMonica McIver.
..... Charges against Baraka were dropped, but McIver was indicted on three charges in connection with her appearance that day and is still fighting the charges in federal court.
..... Menendez said his current visit focuses on the health services provided at the facility, which has been a common complaint among detainees. He said that Delaney Hall has only seven full-time medial professionals on staff to tend to population of over 800 people.
..... "Every time we;re hear, the individuals talk about the inadequate, inconsistent health care treatment, whether that's getting their medication or being able to see a health care professional," Menendez said. "I've been told that if someone puts in a request to see a health care professional, that person gets seen within 24 hours. That's not happening."
..... Teh1,196-bed Delaney Hall, in an industrial area on the outskirts of Newark, opened on May 1, 2025, and has a daily population of 908 detainees, according to federal data collected by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. Since then, detainees have complained about substandard health conditions and food. The facility also reported its first death when Jean Wilson Brutus, a 41-year-old Haitian national detained at the facility died there in December. [2025]
..... while the politicians we inside, a group of protesters from Montclair and Little Falls gathered outside. Montclair resident Mary Ann Schaeffer, who has been coming out here since June,[2025] shared what she wanted to see happen to Delaney Hall.
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"I want it to be closed, and at a minimum, to have more humane conditions inside,' Schaeffer said.
After the visit
..... When the Congress members finished their visit, both spoke of what they experienced.
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Pou called her first visit "enlightening" and "eye-opening."
..... In her conversations with several detainees, one of the discussion that detainees, one of the discussions that struck her was with a detainee who is a mother of a toddler, who recounted what happened when security in the facility took issue with the child not sitting still during a visitation.
..... "One of the officers indicated to her that if [the toddler] does not sit down they will cut her visitation early," Pou said.
..... Pou also said she was told by facility officials that there are currently 680 detainees at Delaney Hall.
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Menendez said the food and water quality is just as poor as it has been in his previous visits, according to what he was told by detainees. Also, there are poorly ventilated rooms. he believes the substandard conditions are there for a reason.
..... "In my opinion, what they are doing inside there is trying to cerate conditions where people are so demoralized that they will sign voluntary departure papers to not be in there anymore," Menedez said.