Monday 01 / June / 2026
New Jersey: The mayor of the US city of Newark ordered a curfew around the Delaney Hall immigration detention centre in the state of New Jersey due to ongoing demonstrations.
The curfew will be in effect between 9:00 PM local time and 6:00 AM the following morning, Mayor Ras Baraka said in a statement, adding that the measure will remain in place until further notice.
Pro-immigration protesters have been clashing with the police at the ICE facility for several days as concerns mount for the well-being of the centre's residents.
Lawyers representing some of the detainees had told media outlets that detainees were given expired food and did not have access to medical care. They also said their clients started a hunger strike over the poor conditions within the facility, which has some 1,000 beds. With some 300 residents reportedly launching the hunger strike in May, the Delaney Hall centre became the latest symbol of the embittered debate on US President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.
New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, said she was denied entry last week when she tried visiting the centre with state lawmakers.
In turn, the Department of Homeland Security has accused New Jersey politicians of spreading "smears" against ICE.
New Jersey governor calls for calm
With violence escalating, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has now imposed a nightly curfew in the half-mile (805 metres) area surrounding the facility.
On Sunday, Governor Sherrill said masked protesters attacked police barricades and threw projectiles, utilised the barriers as weapons and lit tires on fire in the street. She added that such actions "put peaceful protesters and law enforcement in danger."
She urged protesters to focus on "better conditions for the detainees, for their families, and ultimately, for the closure of Delaney Hall."
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, the federal agency that oversees US immigration enforcement, said Delaney Hall operations will "continue as usual."
Governor Sherrill also restated her appeal to bring "the temperature down," and said the focus should be on "better conditions for detainees, for their families, and ultimately, for the closure of Delaney Hall."
Sherrill emphasised her state is not interested in seeing ICE agents in New Jersey "in any way."
