Federal agents clashed with anti-ICE protesters outside the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, New Jersey, on Tuesday night, deploying pepper spray and batons after agitators attempted to block vehicles from leaving the facility. Two individuals were arrested for allegedly assaulting, resisting, and impeding federal officers, capping five straight days of escalating confrontation at the privately run immigration facility.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin addressed the incident on social media Tuesday night, saying ICE officers had been attacked first.
“ICE law enforcement officers were assaulted by anti-ICE rioters who sprayed law enforcement with an unknown chemical substance.”
The Department of Homeland Security followed with its own post, declaring on X that it “will NOT let rioters stop or slow @ICEgov down.” The agency accused “New Jersey sanctuary politicians and anti-ICE agitators” of spending their Memorial Day weekend “smearing law enforcement and rioting” while ICE officers “continued to put their lives on the line to arrest murderers, pedophiles, and kidnappers.”
The Tuesday night confrontation was the sharpest point in a multi-day standoff that has drawn Democratic governors, senators, and House members to the facility, and drawn federal charges against at least one local elected official.
Protests at Delaney Hall began the previous Friday. By Monday, the situation had intensified sharply. The Washington Times reported that approximately 125 demonstrators surrounded the facility, blocking entrances and exits. ICE agents responded with pepper spray and riot gear to clear the blocked entrance.
Sen. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, was caught in the pepper spray cloud while attempting to broker a de-escalation. Kim had been allowed entry to the facility and afterward described conditions inside as “inhumane.” New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill also visited but was denied entry. Sen. Cory Booker rallied around Sherrill, criticizing ICE and the facility on social media.
The protests were prompted by reports of a hunger and labor strike inside the facility. AP News reported that detainees alleged poor conditions including contaminated food and inadequate medical care. Democratic members of Congress who toured the facility claimed to have seen food with maggots. Claims about the scope of the strike varied, some accounts put the number of participating detainees as high as 1,000.
Mullin flatly rejected those claims on Monday, posting: “There is NO hunger strike at Delaney Hall. There are no subprime conditions.”
DHS said its officers used “the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property.” The agency also issued a broader statement accusing demonstrators of obstruction, a felony, and faulting local police for refusing to answer calls to assist federal law enforcement.
The confrontation at Delaney Hall extended well beyond street-level clashes. National Review reported that Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested for trespass after ignoring multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations agents to leave the facility. Baraka had sought to inspect Delaney Hall for building, fire, and safety code violations and to challenge the Trump administration’s deportation operations.
Acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba issued a pointed statement after the arrest.
“The Mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey this afternoon. He has willingly chosen to disregard the law. That will not stand in this state.”
Former Gov. Phil Murphy called the arrest “unjust” and demanded Baraka’s immediate release. Three House Democrats, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Robert Menendez Jr., and LaMonica McIver, clashed with federal agents and forced their way into the facility to conduct what they described as congressional oversight.
The pattern is familiar. When local officials refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, or actively obstruct it, the burden falls entirely on federal agents who are left to do their jobs without backup. FBI Director Kash Patel recently warned that anyone who assaults law enforcement will be found and held accountable.
Tuesday’s confrontation escalated when agitators physically blocked vehicles attempting to leave the facility. Video captured federal agents pushing back protesters who made contact with vehicle hoods. Agents deployed pepper spray and used batons to restore movement.
The New York Post reported that protesters allegedly sprayed federal immigration officers with an unknown chemical agent, an allegation Mullin echoed in his own statement. Two individuals were arrested for assaulting, resisting, and impeding federal officers.
Mullin followed up with a direct warning.
“Assaulting and obstructing ICE law enforcement is a crime and a felony. Anyone who assaults law enforcement will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The specific identities and charges of the two arrested individuals have not been publicly detailed. Whether any federal agents were injured remains unclear.
The protests were partly organized around the case of Martin Soto, a detainee whose pregnant wife, Gabriela Soto, had been leading demonstrations. She alleged that the facility retaliated against her husband because of her protest activity, saying: “Because I started this protest outside to close Delaney Hall and free every detainee here they were retaliating on him.” Approximately 300 detainees reportedly joined a hunger and labor strike over alleged lack of sanitation and potable drinking water.
The political dynamics around Delaney Hall follow a now-predictable script. Democratic elected officials, from the governor’s mansion to the U.S. Senate, arrived at the facility not to support law enforcement but to amplify protester grievances and demand the facility’s closure.
U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, a New York Democrat, toured the facility and declared: “The bottom line is, if you are human, if you are American, you cannot support what is going on here. They’re living in jail conditions, and none of these people are criminals.”
That framing, that immigration detainees are not criminals, sidesteps the fact that DHS has specifically stated its officers at the facility are involved in arresting individuals charged with murder, child sexual abuse, and kidnapping. Whether every detainee at Delaney Hall fits that description is a separate question, but the blanket assertion that “none of these people are criminals” is a political claim, not a verified fact.
Courts have consistently upheld the federal government’s authority to operate immigration detention facilities and to enforce removal orders. The Ninth Circuit recently blocked California’s attempt to regulate ICE agents, affirming that states cannot unilaterally constrain federal immigration enforcement.
Sen. Kim, after visiting the facility, posted “Shut it down NOW”, a demand that would effectively release detainees, including those awaiting removal proceedings, into the community.
One of the most telling details in the Delaney Hall standoff is what DHS said about local law enforcement. The agency stated that “local police have refused to answer calls to help our law enforcement.” If accurate, that means federal agents faced a crowd of over a hundred demonstrators, some allegedly armed with chemical agents, without local backup.
This is the real-world consequence of sanctuary policies. Federal officers are left exposed. Lawful operations are obstructed. And the elected officials who created those conditions show up not to restore order but to pose for cameras and demand the facility be shut down.
The confrontation at Delaney Hall also raises broader questions about the security of federal facilities when mob activity increasingly targets law enforcement operations across the country. DHS responded by ramping up security with new barricades at the facility.
Several facts remain unresolved. The identity of the chemical substance allegedly used against officers has not been disclosed. The specific conditions inside Delaney Hall, whether the hunger strike claims or DHS’s denial is closer to the truth, remain in dispute, with each side offering competing accounts and no independent verification. Why Gov. Sherrill was denied entry while Sen. Kim was admitted has not been explained.
The broader fight over federal enforcement funding and priorities will shape how many more standoffs like this one play out in the months ahead.
What is not in dispute: federal agents doing their jobs were physically confronted, allegedly sprayed with a chemical substance, and left without local police support, while the politicians who created those conditions demanded the agents stand down. That tells you everything about who is actually on the side of law and order, and who is performing for a crowd.
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