Anti-ICE protesters clash with federal agents in New Jersey
Reporter Alexis McAdams covers the confrontation between anti-ICE demonstrators and federal agents at a detention center in Newark, New Jersey. Democratic leaders, including Senator Andy Kim, are pushing for the release of undocumented immigrants who they claim are on a hunger strike due to the facility’s conditions. The Department of Homeland Security, however, denies these hunger strike allegations, accusing the protesters of engaging in political theatrics and obstructing federal agents. They emphasize that the detainees include individuals with significant criminal backgrounds.
As protests intensified outside Delaney Hall, President Donald Trump dismissed the demonstrators as “fake” and “paid for,” amid increasing pressure from Democratic lawmakers over the facility’s conditions.
“These aren’t genuine protesters,” Trump declared during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. “They are all paid for. We operate the finest facilities of their kind anywhere in the world.”
Trump’s remarks followed several days of demonstrations at Delaney Hall, where detainees and their families have raised concerns about overcrowding, substandard living conditions, and insufficient medical care. According to Senator Andy Kim, some detainees have initiated a hunger strike in protest.
The situation intensified on Wednesday when Representatives Daniel Goldman and Jerrold Nadler, both from New York, were granted access to the facility amid mounting scrutiny over the detention center’s conditions.
PROTESTERS CLASH WITH ICE AS NJ DETENTION FACILITY DEMONSTRATIONS CONTINUE
President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, where he addressed protests outside the Delaney Hall ICE detention facility in Newark. (Samuel Corum/Sipa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Protests outside Delaney Hall began Friday and have continued throughout the week, at times turning chaotic as demonstrators clashed with ICE agents outside the facility. On Sunday night, protesters attempted to block vehicles from entering and exiting the detention center.
On Monday, officers deployed tear gas and forcibly removed protesters during confrontations outside the facility. Video from the scene showed officers throwing one protester to the ground and dragging another away from the entrance.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin also defended conditions inside Delaney Hall and dismissed criticism from detainees and Democratic lawmakers.
SOMETHING TO HIDE? ICE UNDER FIRE FOR SUBSTANDARD CONDITIONS AT FOR-PROFIT DETENTION CENTER
An ICE agent wields a paintball gun from atop an armored vehicle amid ongoing protests at New Jersey’s Delaney Hall detention center in Newark. (WNYW)
“This isn’t Holiday Inn,” Mullin said when asked about complaints surrounding the facility.
Mullin also criticized elected officials who have appeared outside Delaney Hall, including Kim, who said he witnessed deteriorating conditions firsthand during a recent visit.
“I’m sorry, you probably shouldn’t have been there,” Mullin said when asked about Kim being pepper-sprayed outside the facility.
Kim told CNN detainees showed him spoiled food and described worsening conditions inside the center.
ICE agents detain a protester outside the Delaney Hall detention center after demonstrators protested the transfer of detainees in Newark, N.J., on May 26, 2026. (Andres Kudacki/AP)
“A detainee handed me a carton of milk, and I looked at it, and it was just congealed solid, I mean it was absolutely disgusting,” Kim said.
ICE officials have denied allegations that detainees are being held in unsafe or inhumane conditions at the facility.