Hunger Strike at ICE Detention Center

Published: Tuesday, May 26, 2026

by Michela DiLorenzo

NEWARK, N.J – ICE Detainees in Delaney Hall launched a hunger and labor strike during Memorial Day weekend, raising concerns over living conditions and ultimately demanding freedom. 

On Friday morning, families of detainees gathered outside the detention center to support their loved ones in a protest against the “dangerous conditions” inside Delaney Hall. Protestors claimed that detainees are facing medical neglect, lack of air conditioning during a heat wave and “rotten and spoiled meals.” 

The group of about 300 detainees spoke with protestors through phones and a bullhorn, announcing that they are refusing to eat or comply with the detention center’s “$1 a day work program,” activists reported. 

“We’re not treated like people,” one detainee said. “We’re treated like animals.”

Detainees continued to express concern for those with serious medical conditions, demanding that they be released for their health and safety. 

“We demand the immediate release of those with serious medical conditions, along with all young and elderly people,” detainees said. 

This isn’t the first time detainees at Delaney Hall have gone on hunger strike. In June 2025, a hunger strike commenced after detainees reported “frozen or incomplete meals,” according to the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice (NJAIJ).  

“The people in Delaney Hall have decried conditions from day one,” Amy Torres from NJAIJ said in a statement. “They are now using their last available tool to bring attention to the deadly and dangerous conditions inside.”

ICE and the GEO Group, which runs Delaney Hall on behalf of the federal government, have not commented on this issue. 

For more information on the topic, reach out to Michela DiLorenzo at michela.dilorenzo@student.shu.edu 

Posted in: news,