NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – At 6:30 am this morning, interfaith leaders and community organizers led a vigil outside Delaney Hall, a private immigration detention center that Geo Group is now operating despite sustained community organizing against the facility, ongoing objections from New Jersey’s federal representatives, litigation, and proper city permits. Geo Group’s plans to reopen the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center were uncovered under the Biden administration and are at the forefront of Trump’s mass detention and deportation agenda, which includes a massive expansion of the immigration detention system.

Delaney Hall has the capacity to detain over 1,000 people—more than quadrupling detention capacity in the state. Delaney Hall is lauded by the Trump administration as the first detention center to open under this presidency, despite New Jersey state law AB5207 that prohibits state and local entities and private companies from entering into agreements with ICE for immigration detention. Last week, New Jersey’s Attorney General’s office defended the law in a federal appeals court. Delaney Hall sits in a highly controversial and contaminated area of Newark and is less than seven miles away from New Jersey’s other ICE detention center in Elizabeth. New Jersey is home to over 2 million immigrants. This latest escalation underscores why New Jersey must pass the “Immigrant Trust Act”—to ensure that local law enforcement and state agencies are not weaponized to funnel immigrants into ICE custody.

Shortly after the morning vigil, Newark City Mayor Ras Baraka and the Newark Fire Department requested entrance to the facility. Once their requests were denied, the city issued a notice of fire code violations. The city was joined by about 20 advocates and organizations, who have been protesting immigration detention centers for decades. Organizers will return tomorrow and continue to show up for as long as it takes to protect the Garden State from ICE.

Mayor Baraka, Mayor of Newark, said:

“The GEO Group and ICE exhibit a nationwide pattern of discrimination, disregard for due process and attacks on the foundations of liberty, justice and democracy. Here in Newark, they also ignored court direction to apply for a Certificate of Occupancy (CO) at Delaney Hall, and other deliberate acts of non-compliance that put detainees, as well as employees, at additional, unnecessary risk.  As a city of immigrants known for caring for its own, this adds insult to injury. The city will continue to demand that the GEO Group provides full transparency of operations, that they submit a CO application to ensure compliance all around, and complete ongoing inspections for safety of all involved. Because in Newark, we uphold our laws and statutes with the same rigor that we uphold the rights of our people.”

Dante Apaestegui, Community Response Coordinator at the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice said: “We commend city officials for refusing to look the other way as GEO Group quietly begins operations without proper permits, safety inspections, or legal clearances. A private prison choosing to open its doors without meeting the same standards expected of any business or institution is not just negligent—it’s dangerous.  Private prisons have a long history of putting profit over people. This time, they tried to cut corners and the city said no. That’s the kind of leadership our communities deserve. We urge the city to continue standing firm.” 

Jenny Garcia, Senior Communications Associate at Detention Watch Network, said: “The Trump administration’s cruel, multi-layered detention expansion plan puts lives in jeopardy. It is already exacerbating a system that is rife with abuse, and will undoubtedly lead to more tragedies while tearing apart families and costing taxpayers greatly. Trump’s desire to increase the number of people locked up in detention is in deep contrast with the demands of local communities where immigrants are welcomed and valued, like in New Jersey. The reopening of Delaney Hall flies in the face of New Jerseyans’ sustained local organizing, which passed state legislation to phase out the use of immigration detention. It is clear that Trump will use every opportunity to demonize migrants while also undermining what communities want and need. We commend Mayor Baraka for joining the people of New Jersey to reject Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda.”

Li Adorno with Movimiento Cosecha New Jersey, said: “Imposing the reopening of a detention center in a city and state that has gone lengths to protect New Jersey communities is a form of federal overreach. If federal courts continue to allow private prisons to operate freely, they will directly facilitate Trump’s “tidal waves”, like we witnessed in Denver and Florida, to take place in New Jersey. This will exacerbate already overwhelmed legal defense efforts, which are already at capacity due to the 4 time smaller detention center in Elizabeth. This will leave hundreds of New Jersey residents to fend for themselves against the international prison profiteer & ICE. The battle in the courts has begun to spill into Newark’s toxic corridor and the gritty scrappy city is ready to brawl.”

Charlene D. Walker, Executive Director of Faith in New Jersey, said: “GEO Group and ICE operate as rogue actors, violating state and local laws while imprisoning our beloved siblings at Delaney Hall. This is lawless tyranny, and people of faith refuse to remain silent.We demand immediate closure, full transparency about those held captive, and faith leader access to provide spiritual care. Elected officials must choose: stand with Mayor Baraka or with corporate profiteers. We need bold action like that of Congressman Al Green, not more political theater. We will resist, disrupt, and persist as our faith demands—until all are free.”

Kathy O’Leary, New Jersey Coordinator for Pax Christi USA, said: “Dehumanization plays an essential role in the business model of  incarceration for profit and the operations of private prison companies  like GEO and CoreCivic. At the behest of a hateful ideology and in  service of wealth they hold our brothers, sisters and siblings captive  behind walls and barbed wire assuming that we will forget that they are  loved by God and by us. Perhaps our leaders and the owners of these  places do not understand that we are called to a love that is infinite  and everlasting. We are here today to make sure they understand. We are  here today to tell them loudly and clearly that what they are doing is  evil.” 

Nedia Morsy, Director of Make the Road New Jersey, said: “The reopening of Delaney Hall as an ICE detention center—despite clear opposition from the City of Newark—is a blatant act of defiance that endangers our communities and undermines local authority. GEOGroup has ignored the public will and locked out the officials tasked with keeping people safe. That alone speaks volumes about what’s happening behind those walls. Detention centers like Delaney Hall are not about safety—they’re about profit. They perpetuate abuse, neglect, and racialized harm, disproportionately targeting Black, Brown, queer, and trans immigrants. The fact that Mayor Baraka and Newark Fire Department were barred from entering today makes one clear: GEOGroup is operating with zero accountability, and our communities bear the cost. New Jersey must not become a testing ground for the Trump administration’s deportation machine. We demand transparency, oversight, and an end to this inhumane system. It’s time to pass the Immigrant Trust Act and invest in programs that make our state safer—housing, healthcare, and education—not cages.”