6 events in Passaic County with a date

How Delaney Hall because center of national discussion

By: Manahil Ahmad
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... The reopening of Delaney Hall as a federal immigration detention center in Newark has sparked months of political conflict, protest, legal battles and allegations of abuse, culminating in a hunger strike and clashes outside the facility this week. [05/26/2026]
..... Here's a timeline of the events at the facility leading up to the latest over Memorial Day weekend.

February 2025

..... U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced in February 2025 that it had reached a 15-year agreement with the GEO Group to make the 1,196-bed Delaney Hall the first detention center to open during President Donald Trump's second term, during which the president has vowed to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants. ICE spokesperson Christine Cuttitta confirmed in a statement to NorthJersey.com that detainees were brought too the facility saying "On February 26, [2025] U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement entered into a contract with the Geo Group to provide detention beds at Delaney Hall with an effective date of March 1, 2025. ICE began housing detainees May 1." [2025]

April-May 2025

..... Two months later, tensions escalated between federal and local officials. In April 2025, New Mayor Ras Baraka threatened to padlock the facility, arguing operators lacked required local permits. The dispute trigged an ongoing legal battle between city officials and federal authorities over oversight of the detention center.
..... GEO Group spokesperson Christopher Fereira said Delaney Hall has a valid certificate of occupancy issued by Newark and complies with health and safety requirements, and that the attempt by the mayor's office to stop the facility from opening was a political campaign to keep the federal government from arresting, detaining and deporting criminal immigrants.
..... By May 2025, Delaney hall officially began housing detained migrants. Concerns over conditions inside the facility quickly followed.
..... It was also where Barak was arrested by federal law enforcement in May after accompanying several Congress members on an oversight visit, with one of them, LaMonica McIver, charged with trying to prevent Baraka from being arrested.

June 2025

..... In June 2025, detainees rioted over alleged food shortage and poor living conditions, leading to violet confrontations with guards. Four detainees escaped during the unrest, prompting heightened security concerns and renewed criticism from immigrant advocacy groups. They were eventually captured.

December 2025

..... Public scrutiny intensified again in December 2025 after the death of Jean Wilson Brutus, a 41-year-old Haitian national detained at Delaney Hall. Brutus died December 12, [2025] just one day after arriving at the facility.
..... ICE said Brutus suffered a "medical emergency" and was taken to University Hospital in Newark, where he was pronounced dead. The agency described the death as resulting from "suspected natural causes" and said Brutus showed "no signs of distress during intake nor a medical history of cardiovascular issues."
..... Brutus was one of four immigrants, who died in ICE custody during the same week, according to the agency. His death prompted renewed calls from immigrant rights advocates and elected officials for independent investigations into condition at Delaney hall and the broader federal detention system.

February 2026

..... State-level resistance to federal mitigation enforcement expanded in February 2026 under Governor Mikie Sherrill, who signed several measures aimed at limiting cooperation with immigration authorities.
..... One law required law enforcement offices, including federal offices operating in New Jersey, to display identification and keep their faces visible while interacting with the public, with limited exceptions for undercover assignments, medical reason and emergency conditions.
..... Another law codified New Jersey's 2018 Immigrant Trust Directive, originally implemented by former Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, restricting state and local police from participating in most federal immigration enforcement operations.
..... Sherrill also signed the Privacy Protection Act, limiting government agencies and health care facilities form collecting immigration-related personal information. On February 11, [2026] she issued an executive order barring ICE agents from using state property to state immigration raids.
..... The federal government later sued New Jersey over the directive, arguing the order interfered with federal immigration enforcement operations.

May 2026

..... Conditions inside Delaney Hall again drew national attention in May 2026, after detainees launched a hunger strike involving about 300 people inside the facility.
..... Immigrant advocacy groups, including New Jersey Alliance for Immigration Justice and Eyes on ICE, organized demonstrations outside Delaney Hall in solidarity with detainees.
..... Protesters demanded the release of elderly, sick and vulnerable detainees and called on Sherrill to investigate the facility. Organizers said detainees were demanding freedom, not improved conditions.
..... Days before the pretests intensified, U.S. Representatives Rob Menendez, Analilia Mejia and McIver visited Delaney Hall on May 18 [2026] and said many allegations raised by detainees were accurate.
..... McIver referenced a letter sign by 288 detainees alleging inadequate food, medical neglect and unsafe conditions.
..... "Still the same conditions, but worse," McIver said after the visit. "people are still not getting adequate food, and they're not getting adequate medical care."
..... On May25, [2026] tensions outside the facility escalated as demonstrators attempted to block deportation vans leaving Delaney hall. Federal agents responded with pepper spray and peeper balls during clashes with protesters demanding the facility's closure.
..... Sherrill said she was denied access to tour the facility that same day, calling the refusal "deeply concerning" and questioning "What they are trying to hide from public view."
..... "I have long opposed private detention facilities and will continue to advocate for the closure of Delaney Hall," Sherrill said in a statement.
..... U.S. Senator Andy Kim said he was pepper-sprayed while outside the facility supporting detainees participating in the hunger strike.
..... The unrest marked the latest chapter in a year-long conflict that has turned Delaney Hall into one of the most contentious immigration detention centers in the country, drawing scrutiny from lawmakers, activists and federal officials.

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