ICE Agents and Protesters Clash Repeatedly Outside Newark's Delaney Hall Detention Center

Demonstrations at Delaney Hall, an immigration detention facility operated by a private contractor in Newark, escalated into physical confrontations between protesters and armed federal agents across multiple days beginning Memorial Day weekend. According to both sources, pepper spray was deployed on at least three occasions — on Tuesday, when Sen. Andy Kim was pepper-sprayed after reportedly attempting to intervene between the two groups, and again on Wednesday and Thursday evenings.

Rep. Adriano Espaillat, a Washington Heights Democrat who describes himself as the first "formerly undocumented immigrant" member of Congress, arrived Wednesday waving a court document he said gave him and other lawmakers access to the facility. He identified himself at the gate, stated the court order allowed his entry, and said he is one of 12 plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking to compel DHS to permit legislators into any detention center, including privately operated ones, without prior notice. The lead plaintiff in that suit is Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado, and the order was heard by a panel including two Obama appointees and one Trump appointee, according to Fox News.

Reps. Jerrold Nadler and Daniel Goldman arrived separately and spent close to two hours inside. Speaking afterward, Nadler described conditions he said included sparse food served only at 4 a.m., noon, and 4 p.m., as well as allegations of maggots in food and limited medical access. Goldman said inmates he spoke with reported no criminal records, and described meeting a man who had lived in the United States for 23 years with American-citizen children and was detained at a green card interview. DHS denied allegations about food and conditions; Fox News noted that ambulances from a local Newark hospital arrived throughout Wednesday and Thursday.