May 31 - Following two consecutive nights of arrests linked to protests outside a New Jersey immigrant detention facility, state law enforcement officials have enlarged the zone where demonstrations are restricted even as the center began permitting escorted family visits to restart.
Governor Mikie Sherrill said on Sunday that relatives would be allowed to see detainees at Delaney Hall in Newark, with visits taking place under police escort. Her statement came several hours after Newark Mayor Ras Baraka put a nightly curfew in place covering the roughly half-mile radius surrounding the facility.
State police were ordered by Sherrill on Friday to assume control of the area around the center after a series of tense encounters between protesters and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel. At a Sunday news conference, state Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said officers have secured "a broader area than just outside Delaney Hall" citing safety concerns.
The confrontations present a political and operational challenge for Sherrill’s administration, which has emphasized limiting the presence of federal immigration agents on local streets while also managing public order around the detention center. "ICE is not a law enforcement agency we want on our streets in any way," Sherrill told reporters, and she reiterated an appeal for demonstrators to "bring the temperature down" by remaining peaceful.
Law enforcement reports show arrests were made during the demonstrations: three people were arrested on Saturday night, following six detentions on Friday. Authorities identified those detained as participants in the protests outside Delaney Hall.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the federal immigration agency and the facility, said on Sunday that operations at the center will "continue as normal." Delaney Hall is a 1,000-bed detention complex operated by the private company Geo Group on behalf of ICE.
Criticism of the facility has come from multiple quarters. Immigrant advocates, Governor Sherrill and other Democratic officials have called for Delaney Hall to be closed, describing it as poorly managed and subject to inhumane conditions. In a statement after visiting the site on Sunday morning, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, "The situation is unacceptable" and urged that "Delaney Hall must be shut down immediately." Jeffries visited the center alongside three members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation.
Sherrill said on Saturday that out-of-state agitators had helped inflame tensions among protesters outside the detention center, while stressing that the majority of demonstrators "want to be there peacefully." Senator Andy Kim described the level of tension linked to the ICE protests as unprecedented for the state, telling CNN’s "State of the Union" program that he had not seen New Jersey in such a precarious state during his time in elected office.
Separately, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Thursday warned of curtailing processing of international passengers at Newark Liberty International Airport, citing local law enforcement's lack of assistance to federal immigration officials. The airport is a major gateway to New York City. Senator Kim responded to the idea of restricting international air travel by calling such a measure senseless, saying it "would be just shooting ourselves in the foot."
The incidents around Delaney Hall come amid broader national debate over federal deployments in response to protests tied to immigration enforcement. Since returning to power in January 2025, President Donald Trump has referenced protests against immigration enforcement when justifying sending federal law enforcement to U.S. cities. State and local leaders in New Jersey have emphasized they do not want expanded federal enforcement operations on their streets.
As authorities balance public-safety concerns, detainee access and political pressures, the expanded secured perimeter, the mayoral curfew and the resumption of police-escorted family visits mark the latest developments in an intensifying local and national dispute over the operation of Delaney Hall and immigration enforcement activities in New Jersey.