(THE NEW JERSEY MONITOR)(June 1, 2026)–A new curfew implemented in Newark led to numerous arrests outside migrant jail Delaney Hall Sunday night as state and local police attempted to keep protesters and members of the media away from the detention center.
It’s unclear how many people were taken into custody, and authorities did not respond to a request for comment Monday. The weekend marked the start of a new strategy employed by Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s administration to have New Jersey State Police, and not federal agents, manage the crowds that have gathered outside the jail in the last 10 days to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Protesters are criticizing state troopers’ tactics. In a statement Sunday, Nedia Morsy of immigrant advocacy group Make the Road New Jersey said police have not made honest attempts to de-escalate tensions outside the jail or talk to people who are gathering there.
“If the State Police are going to use the same tactics as ICE agents, then they are no different than ICE. These actions do not in fact uphold public safety and do not protect people’s constitutional rights to peacefully demonstrate,” she said.
Morsy said troopers used excessive force against unarmed protesters exercising their First Amendment rights, a move she called baffling.
Amy Torres of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice said she received calls from people at Sunday’s protest who were confused about where they could and could not protest. Newark city officials implemented a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew for the half-mile around Delaney Hall, but some protesters said they were chased away by authorities even if they were farther than that from the detention center.
Torres said no map was published for people who want to comply with the curfew, and said the lack of direction gave her “flashbacks to sunset towns in West Texas.”
“It’s absurd. It’s absolutely impossible for people to comply when the law is written loosely enough for police on the ground to interpret it however they would like,” she said. “Police are chasing people into the night. It boggles my mind. It’s so irresponsible, and it’s not keeping anyone safe.”
Attorney General Jen Davenport said in a statement that police issued dispersal warnings in both English and Spanish beginning at 8:15 p.m. on Sunday. She said a group of people who were “armed with helmets, shields or gas masks” that ignored the order were arrested.
“Their actions put the public at risk, and I am grateful to law enforcement for de-escalating the situation,” she said.
Kathy O’Leary has been organizing outside of Delaney Hall since it opened last year, and helps run a volunteer tent where families and loved ones of detainees receive food and connect with attorneys and social workers. O’Leary said she’s been unable to get to the tent since police blocked off Doremus Avenue to pedestrians and some vehicular traffic.
O’Leary stressed that protests shifted focus away from the detainees inside the jail, who launched a hunger and labor strike 10 days ago to protest conditions in the facility.
“Having this many people put pressure, there’s value in that. But if they put the energy into actually finding out who is inside Delaney Hall, what their stories are, what’s happening inside, it would be different,” she said. “This hole that we’re in, it’s not helping people uplift (detainees’) voices. People have been dehumanized for so long.”
Loved ones of people locked up in the privately operated, 1,000-bed facility on Doremus Avenue, run by Geo Group, have described overcrowded rooms, moldy food with live worms, inadequate medical care, and retaliation by guards. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has denied those claims and said no detainees were on strike.
The crisis escalated over Memorial Day weekend, when federal lawmakers were denied entry into the facility. Protesters and ICE officials clashed outside the jail, with ICE firing pepper balls and tear gas, catching Sen. Andy Kim in the melee.
Each night last week brought new clashes between protesters and ICE agents. By Friday, Sherrill, a Democrat who has clashed with the Trump administration over its mass detention and deportation effort, announced that state troopers would take over security outside the jail.
Family visitation privileges for inmates, which had been suspended after protests broke out, resumed Sunday. Sherrill characterized the switch as one she demanded, but Trump administration officials told reporters they restored visitation after authorities moved protesters away from the jail’s entrance.
Officials did not say how many families were able to enter the facility Sunday afternoon.
O’Leary said just five family members were allowed into Delaney Hall Sunday. And she noted that visitation allowances are about to change, with detainees required to list eight approved people to visit with their full names, birth dates, and home addresses. Prior to this, people needed just an ID to get in, she said.
“If yesterday was a normal day, we would’ve seen 500 visitors come. The families are desperate, the people inside are suffering, and they’re suffering from being tortured,” she said.
More Democratic elected officials visited the jail over the weekend. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries arrived at the facility Sunday morning alongside Reps. Josh Gottheimer, LaMonica McIver, and Rob Menendez for an oversight visit.
Jeffries said the conditions he saw inside and discussions with about two dozen detainees “shocked the conscience.” He pointed to unsanitary living conditions, lack of medical care, and unhealthy food.
“Immigration enforcement in this country should be fair, just, and humane,” he said. “The Trump administration is doing the exact opposite. Delaney Hall must be shut down immediately.”
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.SUBSCRIBE
Published with permission of The New Jersey Monitor