New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Sen. Andy Kim met on Memorial Day with the families of detainees at Delaney Hall, the privately run immigration detention center in Newark that holds hundreds of illegal immigrants. The visit came after both Democrats pushed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for access to the facility.
Kim said on X Monday that he was back at Delaney Hall with Sherrill and other members of the New Jersey delegation to meet with families of detainees and hear from community advocates. He said the center “must be shut down immediately,” while Sherrill said she would continue to call for its closure.
Sherrill said she was “deeply disturbed” by what she had heard about conditions inside Delaney Hall. She said she had contacted ICE to gain access to the facility and that her office remained in close coordination with the federal delegation and advocates. “I will continue to call for the closure of Delaney Hall because of reports like these,” she said.
The New Jersey governor’s visit followed a tense weekend at the Newark site. On Sunday, Kim and Rep. Rob Menendez arrived at Delaney Hall but were denied entry, and protesters clashed with authorities outside the building. The facility was revamped as an immigration detention center last year, and some detainees have since gone on a hunger strike to protest what they describe as poor conditions inside.
Delaney Hall has become a focal point for critics of private detention in New Jersey. In February, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey said the center was dangerous for those being detained, their loved ones and all who care about immigrants’ rights, fundamental constitutional freedoms and democracy. The group also said families and community members had united in fierce opposition to the facility and the abuse of human beings inside it.
That criticism has only sharpened since May 2025, when protesters including three congressional lawmakers and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka gathered outside the center and clashed with authorities. Sherrill’s latest visit puts the state’s top Democrat in the middle of a fight over access, conditions and whether a private detention center should keep operating in Newark at all.
For now, the answer from Sherrill and Kim is clear: they want the doors opened to scrutiny and the facility closed down.
