Activists gathered at dawn on Tuesday in the parking lot of Newark’s Delaney Hall, an ICE detention center revived under the Trump administration. Dozens held cardboard signs while an armored vehicle approached agents armed with rifles and batons. The standoff, now in its fifth day, centers on detainees’ claims of rotten food, inadequate medical care and a reported hunger strike, and demanding transparency.

Federal officials dismissed the allegations, emailing that no hunger strike existed and urging detainees to self‑deport. The Department of Homeland Security countered that ICE provides “the best health care they have received in their lives” and that its standards exceed most U.S. prisons, and legal scrutiny. The ACLU of New Jersey, however, affirmed that hundreds have been refusing food for days.

New Jersey Democrats, including Gov. Mikie Sherrill, Sen. Andy Kim and Rep. Rob Menendez, have called for Delaney Hall’s closure, accusing ICE of mishandling community members. Protesters endured pepper‑ball and tear‑gas dispersals, while officials labeled them rioters obstructing law enforcement. The clash underscores mounting political pressure on ICE contracts, which could prompt federal reviews of detention‑center leasing arrangements, in the coming weeks.