New Jersey Officials Impose Curfew to Stifle Anti-ICE Protests at Delaney Hall Detention Center

Protesters assembled outside the Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, New Jersey on May 30, 2026, prompting Governor Mikie Sherrill to order state police to assume control on May 29, 2026. Delaney Hall is a 1,000-bed facility operated by Geo Group for ICE. Six people were arrested on May 29, with five not from New Jersey. Police fired tear gas and advanced with riot shields as confrontations escalated over several days.

Delaney Hall detention protests

• ▪The article was published on May 31, 2026
• ▪Protesters assembled outside the Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, New Jersey on May 30, 2026
• ▪Governor Mikie Sherrill called for the closure of Delaney Hall
• ▪Delaney Hall is a 1,000-bed detention facility operated by Geo Group for Immigration and Customs Enforcement
• ▪Confrontations occurred between protesters and federal agents outside Delaney Hall over several days before May 30, 2026

Out-of-state agitator arrests

• ▪Governor Mikie Sherrill said national extremist groups became involved in the Delaney Hall protests on May 30, 2026
• ▪Five of the six people arrested on May 29, 2026 at Delaney Hall protests were not from New Jersey
• ▪Six people were arrested on May 29, 2026 during protests outside Delaney Hall

State police deployment

• ▪New Jersey state police set up protected protest zones outside Delaney Hall on May 29, 2026
• ▪Protesters surrounded a law enforcement vehicle and made threats toward personnel on May 29, 2026 at Delaney Hall
• ▪Governor Mikie Sherrill's goal for state police deployment at Delaney Hall was to ensure peaceful protests and public safety and avoid a surge of federal agents
• ▪Governor Mikie Sherrill ordered New Jersey state police to assume control outside the Delaney Hall detention facility on May 29, 2026

Federal-state tensions over ICE

• ▪Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin called the involvement of state police at Delaney Hall a win for law and order
• ▪Governor Mikie Sherrill suggested federal officials made the situation worse at Delaney Hall, with ICE using batons on protesters
• ▪Clashes between immigration officers and protesters occasionally turned violent in other states, most notably in Minnesota, where federal personnel fatally shot two people and injured others

Detainee hunger strike

• ▪Detainees at Delaney Hall announced a labor and hunger strike to draw attention to what the detainees called inhumane conditions and to demand their release
• ▪Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin denied allegations about inhumane conditions at Delaney Hall

Protest crowd control tactics

• ▪Police advanced with riot shields and fired tear gas at Delaney Hall protests on May 29, 2026
• ▪New Jersey state police Lieutenant Colonel David Sierotowicz said police used standard tactics to move the crowd back at Delaney Hall on May 29, 2026, with no significant injuries to the public or law enforcement
• ▪Activists were seen retrieving face coverings, gas masks, fireworks, rocks and other projectiles from a nearby tent area at Delaney Hall protests on May 29, 2026

Perspective of Governor Mikie Sherrill and New Jersey state officials

• ▪Governor Mikie Sherrill suggested federal officials made the situation worse at Delaney Hall, with ICE using batons on protesters
• ▪Governor Mikie Sherrill's goal for state police deployment at Delaney Hall was to ensure peaceful protests and public safety and avoid a surge of federal agents

Perspective of Detainees at Delaney Hall

• ▪Detainees at Delaney Hall announced a labor and hunger strike to draw attention to what the detainees called inhumane conditions and to demand their release