Newark detention center faces hunger strike over unsanitary conditions

New Jersey sued Delaney Hall’s operators on June 2 after state health inspectors were blocked from a full inspection of the Newark immigration detention center. The lawsuit said inspectors were allowed only into food-service areas on May 28, while detainees inside the 1,000-bed facility were already describing dirty, unsafe and unhealthy conditions.

The state is now seeking access to sleeping areas, showers and toilets, medical facilities and ventilation equipment. That dispute has sharpened scrutiny of the GEO Group-run center, which reopened in 2025 under a 15-year ICE contract worth roughly $1 billion and quickly became a flashpoint for protests, lawsuits and state oversight fights.

Over Memorial Day weekend, detainees began a hunger strike, prompting Gov. Mikie Sherrill and other elected officials to visit Delaney Hall. Advocates say the men and women inside reported rotten or spoiled food, limited medical care and restrictions on video calls, commissary and visitation, while communication with family members and attorneys worsened as the protest stretched on. Human Rights Watch said more than 300 detained women and men had reportedly been on a labor and hunger strike since May 22, citing medical neglect, lack of sanitation, spoiled food and denial of bond.

The allegations have reached beyond discomfort and into questions about basic detention oversight. Reports and advocacy groups said some detainees described live worms in food, and members of Congress who visited the center said they heard accounts of maggots. ICE has denied abuse, poor conditions and even the existence of a hunger strike, putting the agency at odds with detainee accounts, local officials and advocates.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has pressed for stronger state action and signaled a push to expand litigation in an effort to close the facility. The New Jersey Department of Health and the attorney general have said the conditions and the lack of access are unacceptable, and the state’s case has become part of a broader legal battle over how Delaney Hall is being run.

That earlier fight began in 2025, when Newark sued over permit and inspection issues. A judge sent that dispute to mediation in May 2026, but clashes outside the facility, protests involving federal agents and local officials, and a curfew around the site have only underscored how quickly the detention center has become a test of whether federal standards are being enforced at all. ICE rules require detainees to be treated humanely and provided appropriate medical and mental health care, making the allegations at Delaney Hall a measure of whether those standards mean anything in practice.