Fresh wave of demonstrations hits migrant centre in Newark, New Jersey

Tensions escalated at an immigration detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, where pro-ICE supporters and protesters opposing the centre confronted each other outside the site after more than a week of demonstrations focused on detainees they say are being held in inhumane conditions, NBC News reports.

Ongoing late-night confrontations with law enforcement outside the US ICE Delaney Hall Detention Facility led Newark Mayor Ras Baraka to impose a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. until further notice.

The restriction covers an area within a half-mile radius of Delaney Hall, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said in a statement. Baraka also warned that individuals who violate the curfew or restricted zone will be removed and face prosecution.

“Due to the escalating situation at Delaney Hall and the increasing need for police intervention, immediate action is required to protect public safety,” the mayor said. “Multiple individuals have already been arrested and found in possession of weapons, underscoring the seriousness of the threat.”

Davenport said demonstrators “attacked” a barrier separating law enforcement from protesters during the night of May 30, advanced toward officers, threw objects, and started a fire.

Protesters supporting detainees inside the facility beat drums and chanted slogans including “Shut down Delaney Hall, free them all!” and “Shut this racist system down!”

Many participants said they were protesting conditions inside Delaney Hall, which they described as unsafe and inhumane.

“I’m against these people being detained unlawfully, some of them have never had any convictions, and they’re just in there,” said a protester identified as Dana, who declined to give her last name, speaking to NBC News. “It’s not okay to treat human beings this way. I don’t care how you feel about immigration, we’re all human beings.”

Another demonstrator, Jacqueline Calderone, said she personally knows people who were recently detained by ICE.

“These people don’t come here to commit crimes, they come here for a better life for themselves and their loved ones,” she said. “They deserve rights. They deserve a fair process, due process.”

The Department of Homeland Security stated on X that the area around the facility had been secured and that the agency “WON’T BACK DOWN.”

Together with our state and local law enforcement partners, we have SECURED the area around Delaney Hall.

ANYONE who attempts to obstruct law enforcement or disrupt our facility will face the FULL weight of the law.

WE WON’T BACK DOWN. pic.twitter.com/CU938b6Bw9

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) May 31, 2026

By Jeyhun Aghazada