No Permits. No Inspections. No Problem.
Inside the ICE Detention Center That Opened Over a Mayor’s Arrest and a City’s Lawsuit
On May 9, 2025, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested outside Delaney Hall. This ICE detention center had quietly reopened just days earlier under a $1 billion federal contract with private prison giant GEO Group. Baraka was there to join three members of Congress—Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez Jr., and LaMonica McIver—on an oversight visit. They were eventually allowed inside, but only after what McIver described as physical shoving by ICE officers.
Baraka was denied entry. Moments later, while standing on public property, he was surrounded by federal agents and taken into custody, charged with trespassing.
This wasn’t a misunderstanding but a flashpoint in a deeper conflict about local authority, federal secrecy, and Trump’s revived deportation machine. One month earlier, the City of Newark had filed a lawsuit to stop Delaney Hall from reopening, citing missing permits and serious safety concerns. GEO and ICE went ahead anyway.
So the question isn’t just why a mayor was arrested. It’s what’s happening inside Delaney Hall, and why does the federal government want it kept quiet?
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Reopened Under Lawsuit, Without Local Clearance
Delaney Hall reopened for ICE detainees on May 1, 2025, just four weeks after the City of Newark filed a lawsuit to stop it. The facility, located just minutes from Newark Liberty International Airport, is now operated under a 15-year, $1 billion federal contract with GEO Group, one of the country's largest and most controversial private prison corporations.
The lawsuit, filed on April 1 in New Jersey Superior Court, alleged that GEO reopened the facility without securing a valid Certificate of Occupancy or completing required fire, electrical, and plumbing inspections. These were not bureaucratic formalities but basic life-safety checks for a building designed to confine people. Among the issues cited are concerns regarding plumbing, fire suppression, and electrical systems, all essential for humane and safe detainment.
From the city’s complaint:
“GEO has failed to obtain the required certificates and inspections necessary to ensure the safety and legality of operations at Delaney Hall.”
GEO Group claimed it possessed a valid certificate from the city. Newark officials countered that the certificate was outdated or improperly issued and that a new certificate was required due to the change in facility use and operator. They say follow-up inspections revealed unresolved safety issues.
In response to the lawsuit, GEO quickly moved the case to federal court, arguing that its status as a federal contractor exempts it from local regulation under the Constitution's Supremacy Clause. The case now sits in federal court under docket number 2:25-cv-02225, where it may face slower proceedings and more challenging jurisdictional hurdles for the city.
Meanwhile, ICE began transferring people into Delaney Hall despite the legal uncertainty, safety concerns, and the city’s explicit demand to delay operations until the facility could be cleared.
We’ve previously reported on Delaney Hall in our Detention Nation series. The first article of the series and relevant articles are below for further reading:
“Storming the Facility”: A Manufactured Narrative
After the confrontation on May 9, DHS issued a press release claiming the Representatives “stormed” the facility and “broke into” a guard shack, language normally reserved for rioters, not lawmakers on official business. Right-wing outlets like Fox News echoed the term uncritically.
The lawmakers pushed back immediately. Rep. Watson Coleman called the statement false and inflammatory. Rep. McIver went further, alleging physical contact by ICE officers as they attempted to conduct their oversight duties.
Then, there was Mayor Baraka, arrested near the gate for refusing to leave the public perimeter of a federally run facility operating without city clearance. His arrest, paired with the agency’s hostile rhetoric, paints a troubling picture: not just of bureaucratic dysfunction, but of a federal operation willing to criminalize oversight and silence dissent.
Who’s Inside? And Why Won’t They Say?
Delaney Hall is now operational. But the public has been told almost nothing about what’s happening inside.
ICE has not released information on the number of detainees, the facility’s population breakdown, or the conditions of confinement. Representatives who gained access have not issued detailed accounts of what they saw.
That silence raises urgent human rights concerns, given ongoing legal action, unresolved safety violations, and federal hostility toward transparency. With no local inspections completed, are the people inside safe? Are they receiving medical care? Are children among them? The government isn’t saying.
The Bigger Picture: Trump’s Deportation Machine Is Back
Delaney Hall is the first major detention center to open under Donald Trump’s second presidency. It did so under a cloud of controversy, during active litigation, without clear safety certification, and in open defiance of local authority. It is, in every way, a test case for how Trump is wielding federal power in immigration enforcement: fast, secretive, and unapologetically brutal.
If Newark can be steamrolled like this, a sitting mayor can be arrested, and congressional oversight can be spun as a criminal act, what happens in cities with fewer resources or national attention?
This isn't about politics. It's about accountability, legality, and the lives of human beings in detention.
We call on:
Democratic leadership in Congress to investigate Delaney Hall and the conduct of ICE agents.
The press to demand data and access.
Local governments to assert their legal right to enforce public safety laws, even against federal contractors.
Delaney Hall didn’t just reopen. It sent a message: Federal power, privatized profit, and Trump-era immigration enforcement are back, and they no longer feel the need to ask permission.
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Bibliography:
“Newark Mayor Ras Baraka Arrested Outside ICE Facility.” New York Magazine, May 9, 2025.
“New Jersey Mayor Arrested at US Immigration Detention Center.” Reuters, May 9, 2025.
“Newark Mayor Ras Baraka Released After Being Arrested at ICE Detention Center.” ABC7 New York, May 10, 2025.
“Members of Congress Break into Delaney Hall Detention Center.” Department of Homeland Security, May 9, 2025.
“Reps. Watson Coleman, McIver, Menendez, Exercise Oversight Authority in Visit to ICE Detention Facility.” Insider NJ, May 9, 2025.
“Newark Lawsuit Aims to ‘Cripple’ Immigrant Enforcement, Prison Company Alleges.” New Jersey Monitor, April 10, 2025.
GEO Group. “Memorandum of Law in Support of Motion to Dismiss.” Case 2:25-cv-02225-JKS-LDW, April 9, 2025.
“ICE Opens Newark Detention Center Amid Lawsuit Over Permits, Inspections.” New Jersey Globe, May 4, 2025.
“Newark Mayor Detained by Federal Agents During Protest at ICE Jail.” New Jersey Monitor, May 9, 2025.
“Newark Mayor Arrested at ICE Facility While Joining Democrats to Conduct ‘Oversight.’” ABC News, May 9, 2025.
“Newark Mayor Ras Baraka Arrested at ICE Facility.” CBS News New York, May 9, 2025.
“Newark Mayor Arrested During Protest at ICE Detention Center.” The Washington Post, May 9, 2025.
“Baraka Released from Detainment After Delaney Hall Showdown: ‘We Know That We’re Right.’” New Jersey Globe, May 9, 2025.
“Dem Mayor Ras Baraka Calls His ICE Arrest 'Targeted.'” The Daily Beast, May 9, 2025.
“Newark Mayor Arrested as Dem Congress Members Storm New Jersey ICE Prison to Conduct 'Oversight Visit.'” Fox News, May 9, 2025.
“Democratic Congress Members Storm ICE Facility Gates, Clash with Federal Officials in NJ.” CBS Austin, May 9, 2025.
“ICE Reopening Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark.” NBC New York, March 1, 2025.
“ACLU-NJ Statement on ICE Contracting Delaney Hall for Immigration Detention.” ACLU of New Jersey, February 28, 2025.
“What to Know About the Newly Opened Immigration Detention Center in Newark.” WHYY, May 8, 2025.
“Newark Mayor Detained by Federal Agents During Protest at ICE Jail.” Wisconsin Examiner, May 9, 2025.
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Needs every possible decent protest call sign or petition ASAP!
Trump’s continued corruption. Keep the lights shining brightly on it!