The Newark ICE detention center known as Delaney Hall became a national flashpoint when hundreds of detained people went on hunger and labor strike two weeks ago, demanding their dignity and freedom.
Their allies and families outside answered with near-daily protests; the state police and ICE answered that in turn with weeks of violent repression.
At Mother Jones, we’ve followed this story every step of the way. I’ve been reporting on the ground, learning that I’ll come away from Delaney Hall covered in dust if I’m lucky; covered in pepper spray if I’m less lucky.
We’ve covered the politicians demanding Delaney Hall be shut down, and the Trump administration figures insisting it stay open. We’ve brought you video dispatches as police beat and taser protesters, interviews with the labor unionists who see the Delaney Hall struggle as their own, and analysis of how ICE contractors force detainees to operate their own jails for a few dollars a day.
Still, it’s hard to know exactly what’s happening at any given moment inside Delaney Hall. That’s because GEO Group, the private-prison contractor running the facility, restricts detained people’s communication with the outside, and journalists can’t go in. Even politicians attempting to enter the detention center have been arrested or turned away. DHS, meanwhile, says conditions in ICE detention are just fine.
On Saturday, I watched as Senator Andy Kim—who was pepper-sprayed outside Delaney Hall last month—made it past the gates for a legally-mandated oversight tour. Afterwards, he told me the guards refused to let him talk to anyone, and threatened to kick him out if he tried.
What he was able to see was disturbing. Read his testimony from inside Delaney Hall here.
— Sophie Hurwitz
P.S. Did you get a chance to listen to this weekend’s Reveal episode? This week on Reveal, we partnered with the podcast Scene on Radio to learn why Americans don’t trust the news media. Turns out, the answer’s more complicated than I thought. Learn why you (maybe) shouldn’t trust us here.
