Hunger Strikes in Newark ICE Detention Center

"As there's been this increased outpouring of support and resistance from community members outside Delaney Hall, there has also been, of course, increased pushback and retaliation from ICE and GEO group." - Rachel Marandett, Attorney representing several Delaney Hall detainees.

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FEATURING RACHEL MARANDETT - For many weeks now, an immigrant detention center in Newark, New Jersey has been the site of on-going protests on the outside and a hunger-strike by detainees on the inside. Delaney Hall is operated by the private prison contractor GEO Group. A protester was recently struck by a car outside the detention center and is being treated for injuries. Hunger strikers at Delaney have documented abuses and released lists of demands. 

Rachel Marandett is a Detention Attorney at the American Friends Service Committee's New Jersey Immigrant Rights Program, which is part of the state's DDDI initiative providing free legal representation to detained folks in the state. Rachel represents individuals in both immigration and federal court proceedings to secure release from ICE custody and permanent status in the US. She works with people detained at Delaney Hall and Elizabeth Detention Center in New Jersey, as well as at other ICE detention centers across the country. She spoke with Sonali Kolhatkar about what's been happening inside Delaney Hall.

ROUGH TRANSCRIPT:

Sonali Kolhatkar: Let me first begin by asking you to tell me a little bit about Delaney Hall on its own. As I mentioned, this is run by GEO Group. How big is this facility? How many people does it hold, and what are some of the things that we know about how GEO Group is treating people who are being held at Delaney? 

Rachel Marandett: Yeah. So, as you mentioned, Delaney Hall is run by GEO Group, which is one of the two biggest private prison companies in the US, the other one being CoreCivic, which runs Elizabeth Detention Center, New Jersey. 

And Delaney Hall actually reopened in June of 2025. It had previously been an ICE detention center, then it had served several other functions, then it was closed down for quite a while, and then they decided to reopen it again as an ICE detention center last year, and I believe it was the first new, so to speak, detention center that was opened during this current Trump administration. 

And Delaney Hall and GEO Group generally are known for having really horrific conditions. And so I'd say the two most acutely horrific conditions that I hear about every day from the detainees about the food. It's frequently inedible. It will have worms in it. It'll be rotten. At best it's not rotten, but it really has absolutely no flavor, no protein. Really not supporting anyone's health. And then the water frequently tastes metallic.