Protests and counter-protests continue outside the ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey. State police drew demonstrators away from the building Friday night, Gov. Mikie Sherrill said, to avoid a conflict with ICE agents.
Archiv: booting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Protests Outside Newark ICE Detention Center Enters 10th Day
(today)
Protesters and police have been clashing outside of an immigration center in Newark, New Jersey, for more than a week.
‘Modern-day concentration camp’: Escalating violence reported at Delaney Hall ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey
(May 29, 2026)
The Department of Homeland Security said that about six demonstrators were arrested for assaulting law enforcement officers as activists clashed with armed federal immigration officers outside of the facility Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
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Sherrill, although serving as the leader of the Garden State, does not have the legal right to enter the facility.
That being said, no New Jersey official or congressional representative has the legal authority to shut down Delaney Hall.
McIver Speaks out Against Unlawful Abuse Against Protestors and Detainees at Delaney
(May 28, 2026)
“I’m hearing from advocates and families on the ground reports of ICE pepper spraying and beating detainees inside Delaney Hall. I have seen the horrific conditions and spoken to those inside about the disgusting food, lack of medical care, and violent and unsanitary conditions as recently as this week. With demoted former USCBP Commander Greg Bovino’s announcement that he is coming to Newark today and his threats online to tear gas our community, I have even more concern that he will only escalate the chaos at Delaney,” said McIver. “More ICE violence has never made a situation safer. The only solution to stop the abuse at Delaney Hall and quell this terror nationwide is to shut down the facility and abolish ICE. We will keep standing up to this administration’s terror campaign and we will keep fighting for justice.”
On Monday, McIver made her fourth visit to Delaney Hall. The chaos created by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during McIver’s first visit to Delaney Hall, led to the Trump administration bringing baseless charges against her for conducting oversight. Her second visit came on the heels of the death of Jean Wilson Brutus in ICE custody. Her third visit was following the release of the S.O.S. letter signed by 300 detainees.
Statement by Governor Sherrill on NJDOH Inspection of Delaney Hall
(May 28, 2026)
“The New Jersey Department of Health today sought to conduct a health inspection of Delaney Hall, but it was denied full access and was allowed to inspect only a limited part of the facility. We will review and share the Department’s findings from the limited portion it was allowed to inspect, and we will continue to pursue all appropriate avenues for demanding transparency and ensuring humane conditions for the individuals being held at the facility.
“As I’ve said repeatedly, refusing to provide full access raises serious questions about what ICE is trying to hide from public view.
“New Jersey believes in the rule of law, will uphold the Constitution, and Delaney Hall should be closed down. I am calling for ICE to immediately de-escalate the situation as I continue working to keep New Jersey residents safe.”
New Jersey Gov. Sherrill denied access to North Jersey immigration detention center as hunger strike enters fourth day
(May 26, 2026)
After her visit, Sherrill said in a statement that her request to access the facility was formally denied earlier in the day “raising serious questions about what they are trying to hide from public view.” She added that she visited the site to hear from advocates and the families of those detained.
“What I heard from them was heartbreaking,” she said in the statement. “I will continue to hold ICE accountable, and I remain grateful for the work of our federal delegation.”
The governor expressed concerns about Delaney Hall in a previous statement issued Sunday, calling reports of “unsafe, inhumane, and unconstitutional living conditions…completely unacceptable.”
Newark migrant jail detainees launch hunger, labor strike over conditions behind bars
(May 22, 2026)
NEWARK — Roughly 300 people detained at migrant jail Delaney Hall began a hunger and labor strike to bring attention to what they call the detrimental conditions and treatment they say they face behind bars.
For two hours near a tent outside the Doremus Avenue detention center Friday morning, people shared their stories of loved ones who are detained inside. Gabriela Soto translated calls from prisoners, including one from her husband, Martin, who has been held there since February.
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Shortly after their calls with advocates, guards cut access to phones and tablets inside.
S.O.S: A Second Letter From Delaney Hall
(May 12, 2026)
We feel vulnerable and, in a way, kidnapped —detained without justification— not to mention that we are being tortured physically and psychologically due to the poor food resources provided in these detention centers. We see with deep helplessness and frustration that our due process, rights, and defense have been violated, disregarding benefits granted under the 4th, 5th, and 6th Amendments of the UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION. Families are being destroyed and separated, where there are children, nieces, and minors who are suffering a very strong psychological impact because they do not understand the situation, and in some cases they have witnessed the arrests of their relatives, who have been struck by tragedy and the economic burden, since in most cases we are heads of household.
El Grito de Nosotros Our Cry: A letter from inside Delaney Hall
(February 2026)
Through this letter, I would like to describe the situation that thousands of immigrants are currently living through:
First, we’d like to apologize for the way we entered the United States, but we were experiencing safety circumstances that endangered our lives and the lives of some members of our family.
Upon entering, we surrendered ourselves to border authorities who processed us. Some of us were given parole or a court date to continue our cases in accordance with the due process afforded to us by the Constitution and laws of the United States. We also attended periodic check-ins, obtained work permits and social security numbers, filed taxes, and were working legally and contributing to the economy. Therefore, we did not pose a threat to the country or the communities where we resided.
We know that ICE agents have orders to arrest immigrants. In our cases, we had already been processed and were complying with legal requirements. There was no judge‘s order for our detention or arrest, since we received a procedural benefit upon our entry, but the ICE officers did not take this into account, nor the fact that we had an immigration court date. They arrested us at scheduled appointments and at USCIS offices.
Detained immigrants issue “Our Cry,” a letter from inside Newark ICE facility pleading for due process
(February 12, 2026)
Kathy O’Leary of Pax Christi, an international Catholic peace organization, said she was blown away by the letter’s careful, measured phrasing, as well as the apology it led with.
“It’s heartbreaking,” she told The Jersey Vindicator. “I can’t imagine being in that situation and having the presence of mind to write a letter like that.”
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The message also comes more than a month after the still-unexplained demise of Jean Wilson Brutus, a 41-year-old Haitian man who died at Delaney Hall, and months of complaints and criticism from immigration advocates, local officials, and federal lawmakers about the facility’s treacherous living conditions.
41-year-old detainee at Newark migrant jail died in custody, ICE says
(December 19, 2025)
This marks the first death of a Delaney Hall detainee since it opened earlier this year. Immigrant advocates are demanding more information from authorities on exactly what happened and why it took a week for ICE to announce Brutus’ death.
Kathy O’Leary, an activist who holds vigils at the detention center, said she was there last week when an ambulance pulled onto the jail’s property, and she heard discussions of someone having a medical emergency over guards’ walkie-talkies. That ambulance was held up leaving the jail by a van dropping off new detainees, she added.
It wasn’t until ICE put out the statement Thursday evening that she learned about Brutus’ death.
Rep. LaMonica McIver charged with assault after Newark mayor’s arrest outside ICE facility
(May 19, 2025)
In a clip released by the Department of Homeland Security, McIver can be seen on the facility side of a chain-link fence before crossing through the gate and joining a crowd shouting „surround the mayor.“ Video shows McIver pressing forward in the crowd, with her elbows making contact with a federal officer.
Homeland Security said the charge followed a „thorough review“ of the footage and an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations.
Tom Steyer for Governor of California
Yes, Tom Steyer is a billionaire. But it matters what he is doing with that power: pushing for taxes on the wealthy, expanding universal programs, and dismantling corporate influence in our politics.
This is also about winning.
In a high-stakes race where Republicans could take the top spot, consolidating behind a candidate who is both values-aligned and building momentum is essential. Our organizers on the ground in California are seeing real energy around Steyer for Governor — and that grassroots engagement helped drive this decision.
Our Revolution, Nation’s Largest Independent Grassroots Political Organization, Endorses Steyer
(April 20, 2026)
SAN FRANCISCO – Today, Our Revolution, America’s largest grassroots independent political organizing group, announced its endorsement of Tom Steyer for Governor of California, joining a surge of prominent endorsers getting behind Steyer’s campaign as early voting approaches. Our Revolution was founded as a continuation of Bernie Sanders’s historic 2016 presidential campaign and works to mobilize voters and elect progressive candidates across the country. In the coming months, it will mobilize its more than one million Californian members to organize and volunteer in support of Steyer’s candidacy.
In California, Vote Against the Forces Destroying Democracy
It is painful that the one person who has spent the past decades aggressively supporting democracy, fighting for immigrant rights, fighting the tendency toward oligarchy in our politics, and challenging the fossil fuel industry is himself a billionaire. But the facts are that Tom Steyer will not veto the billionaire’s tax, has pledged to support closing the Water’s Edge Tax loophole, and has pledged to not take fossil fuel money.
The Imperial Presidency Is Bigger Than Donald Trump
A future Democratic-controlled Congress should take up the job that Obama and the party’s old guard abandoned: put strict limits on the use of drones that won’t simply be alternately loosened and tightened by whichever president comes to power, explicitly outlawing “targeted killing” and any other attempt at finding a loophole for the already existing ban on assassinations; finally repeal the 2001 Authorization of the Use of Military Force that has been serially abused by presidents to fight often secret wars all over the world; end mass surveillance, whether in the form of the National Security Agency’s warrantless backdoor searches that Democrats actually expanded under Joe Biden, or in the warrantless spying that the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies now do through private data brokers; close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp that Trump is now trying to send migrants to; and embark on a twenty-first-century version of the Church Committee to investigate and lay bare national security abuses.
Senate unanimously moves to fund most of DHS, except ICE and border patrol, in rare overnight session
The agreement would fund other DHS components, such as the Transportation Security Administration and US Coast Guard, but the House will still need to act before funded agencies within the department can reopen.
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However, asked whether he believes the House will adopt the same measure to fund most of the department, Thune said, “I don’t know what the House will do.”
‘I just want to go home’: Despair settles over the Capitol as DHS deal hopes evaporate
“It looks like everybody is going to stare at each other for a little while,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Wednesday, before nodding at lawmakers’ best hope for getting a deal — their overwhelming desire to leave town.
“You know how it is around here, it’s not Thursday yet,” he said.
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One GOP senator, granted anonymity to speak candidly, summed up their feelings: “I just want to go home.”
Top Goon Kristi Noem is the face of Trump’s police state. Corey Lewandowski is the muscle. Who really runs DHS?
(September 22, 2025)
On paper, Noem sits at the top of this empire. In practice, power over immigration policy is fractured, shaped by competing factions, starting with deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, who has vowed in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination to destroy nameless forces that have conspired against the right — the long arm of law enforcement, he warned them, “will be used to find you, will be used to take away your money, take away your power, and, if you’ve broken the law, to take away your freedom.” Noem will be among those at the forefront of any such effort, surrounded by a tight inner circle that can be difficult to penetrate and often impossible to work with. “The culture over there is terrible,” the administration official told me. “People are scared shitless of Corey.”
“Worst-Kept Secret In D.C.”: Trump Camp Weighs In On Kristi ‘ICE Barbie’ Noem Affair Claims
(September 24, 2025)
Noem, who is married, has been dogged with affair rumors over the years, but she and alleged lover Corey Lewandowski, who is also married, have denied the claims.
A new report in the New York Magazine has detailed Noem’s alleged romantic relationship with Lewandowski, with inside sources telling the outlet it is D.C.’s worst-kept secret.
Elmina Aghayeva, GS ’26, released from ICE custody, after Mamdani, Trump talks
Aghayeva’s release comes after Mamdani shared his concerns about her arrest with Trump, after which the president informed him “that she will be released imminently,” Mamdani wrote in a Thursday afternoon X post. Mamdani’s advocacy came during an unannounced meeting about housing with Trump at the White House.
Columbia celebrated the news in a Thursday X post, writing that it was “thrilled” about Aghayeva’s release. The University added that it would have “additional details” to share Thursday evening.
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A DHS official wrote in a Thursday statement to Spectator that the DHS terminated Aghayeva’s student visa in 2016 during the administration of President Barack Obama, CC ’83, for “failing to attend classes.”
ICE arrests Columbia student, Shipman says agents lied to enter University-owned residence
(February 26, 2026)
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Elmina “Ellie” Aghayeva, GS ’26, in a Columbia Residential building Thursday morning, after acting University President Claire Shipman, CC ’86, SIPA ’94, announced that agents had lied in order to enter a residential building and detain an affiliate.
A person with knowledge of the situation told Spectator that ICE agents impersonated New York Police Department officers in order to enter Aghayeva’s dorm.
Aghayeva’s arrest marks the fourth of a Columbia affiliate amid the federal government’s immigration crackdown, which has continued to target international students at the University.
House Democrats demand DHS scrap memo allowing warrantless entry of homes
(February 3, 2026)
House Democrats on Monday demanded the Department of Homeland Security rescind a controversial directive allowing federal immigration agents to forcibly enter people’s homes without a signed warrant from a judge, following the leak of a memorandum detailing the agency’s broad assertion of law enforcement authority.
Lawmakers say the memo took “a battering ram” to the Constitution and the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable search and seizure — and pushed back on the Trump administration’s claims that non-U.S. citizens are not subject to those rights.
WATCH: Schumer speaks after Democrats vote against DHS funding bill, making shutdown likely
In a list of demands they sent to the White House last week, Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said DHS officers should not be able to enter private property without a judicial warrant and that warrant procedures and standards should be improved. They have said they want an end to „roving patrols“ of agents who are targeting people in the streets and in their homes.
DHS shutdown imminent after Senate Democrats block Homeland Security bill
“Democrats have been very clear. We will not support an extension of the status quo, a status quo that permits masked secret police to barge into people’s homes without warrants, no guardrails, zero oversight from independent authorities,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said before the vote.
We Were Top Homeland Security Lawyers. You Can’t Wish Away the Fourth Amendment.
(February 2, 2026)
A warrant signed by a judge who is independent of the executive branch is a constitutional safeguard that separates legitimate law enforcement from arbitrary government power. This bedrock principle applies with equal — if not greater — force when the government is merely enforcing a civil immigration order.
Today the Department of Homeland Security seeks to justify forcible home entries on the basis of administrative warrants — warrants issued by the executive, not the judicial branch.
DHS defends ICE actions after San Antonio home arrest attempt sparks backlash
(February 8, 2026)
The agency did not specify what type of warrant officers were carrying. Judicial warrants are approved by judges, while administrative warrants are issued by immigration authorities; civil rights advocates note that administrative warrants generally do not permit officers to enter a home without consent or emergency conditions.