Hunger Strike Erupts at Newark’s Delaney Hall as ~300 Detainees Protest Conditions

Roughly 300 detainees at Delaney Hall — a 1,000-bed GEO Group facility in Newark that opened just over a year ago and is the largest immigration detention center in the New York metro area — launched a hunger and labor strike on May 23, 2026, over overcrowding, inadequate medical care, lack of air conditioning, mistreatment by guards, and contaminated food, including reports of worms in meals. Strike organizer Martin Soto was transferred out of the facility in the early hours despite a pending habeas petition, and by Day 4 New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill had been formally denied access to inspect conditions.