Newark sues to block new ICE center
Says prison company didn't file proper permits
By: Ricardo Kaulessar
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... U.S. Immigration and Customs enforcement has plans to reopen Delaney Hall in Newark to process detained immigrates as part of President Donald Trump's deportation push. the city of Newark is saying "not so fast."
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The city filed a lawsuit in state Superior Count in Essex County on Tuesday [04/01/2025] to "cease Occupancy [and] construction, and permit entry for inspection" of the facility, which is on Doremus Avenue in an industrial area on the outskirts of Newark.
..... In February, [2025] ICE announced that it had reached an agreement with the owners of the 1,196-bed building the GEO Group, to make Delancy Hall the first detention center to open during Trump's second presidency. ICE said the center would help fulfill Trump's "mandate to arrest, detain and remove illegal aliens from our communities."
..... Trump has been adamant about achieving the mass deportation of 11 million people, some of whom could end up being held at Delaney Hall.
..... The GEO Group had been seeking legal means to get the facility reopened. Last year, [2024] the company sued Governor Phil Murphy and state Attorney General Matthew Platkin to stop enforcement of a state law passed in 2021 that prohibits local jails from entering into new contracts to house federal immigration detainees.
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Newark's lawsuit against the GEO Group (called the "GEO RE-Entry Group" in the document) said that the prison company, the second largest in the United States, did not file any construction permits with the city. GEO Group also did not seek a certificate of continued occupancy that would be required as a result of :the recent change in tenants at the property, according to the lawsuit, which said city officials were stopped by security when they attempted to inspect the facility on March 31. [2025]
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According to the suit, city officials at their March 31 [2025] visit observed "electrical work" and "plumbing work" had been done in a new annex structure for the facility built in the parking lot, both requiring a permit.
..... Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said in a statement on the city's website: As I have stated in the past, without compliance with requirements Delaney Hall cannot lawfully open. We will not tolerate federal attempts to ignore or evade our laws and statutes, which apply to everyone."
..... The GEO Group responded to the lawsuit with a filing on Wednesday [04/02/2025] to move the city's lawsuit from Essex County Superior Court to U.S. District Court, a move of a few short miles within Newark.
..... The company said in its filing that it was seeking the removal of the lawsuit from Superior Court to federal court because Newark's claims against the GEO Group are "based solely on GEO's performance of its federal contract with ICE."
..... As for the foiled inspection, GEO said that it had "communicated Newark's demand to ICE headquarters instructed that the city of Newark officials would not be permitted access and needed to schedule an appointment to enter the facility." The company, based in Boca Raton, Florida, said it is immune from the city's lawsuit because it was "ICE's decision to deny Newark's request for access to the Delaney hall Facility."
..... In a statement, GEO Group said, "The attempt by local and state officials to stop the opening of a lawful federal immigration processing center at the Delaney Hall facility in Newark is another unfortunate example of a politicized campaign by sanctuary city and open-border politicians in New Jersey to interfere with the federal government's efforts to arrest, detain, and deport dangerous criminal illegal aliens in accordance with established federal law."
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Baraka, a Democrat who is running for New Jersey governor, has been vocal in his opposition to reopening Delaney Hall, which form 2011 to 2017 had housed immigration detainees. he has also criticized the actions of ICE and the Trump administration toward immigrates.
..... Speaking at a protest in front of the felicity last month, [03/2025] Baraka said Newark "has always been a city of immigrants - a city of working people in a port city trying to find a journey toward democracy."
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He called the federal government and the GEO Group to comply with local regulations before reopening Delaney Hall. During a news conference following the protest, the told NorthJersey.com that ICE had sent a letter to Newark stating that the facility would open in May, [2025] but he said no formal in-person meeting had beens et with federal officials or representatives of the GEO Group about those plans.
..... The lawsuit comes days after immigrant advocates protested a meeting of the Union County Commissioners, who agreed on March 27 [2025] to solicit bids on part of the Union County Jail complex in Elizabeth. the advocates, such as the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice are concerned that the site will be sold to a private prison company and be turned into an immigrate detention center like Delaney Hall.