An anti-ICE protester stands outside Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, N.J., during a May demonstration at the facility.Angelina Katsanis/AP
Delaney Hall has been many things: a jail, a halfway house, a rehabilitation facility. For the past year, however, it’s been something more fraught: an ICE detention center and the site of ongoing clashes between federal law enforcement and protesters. Reporters aren’t allowed in, health inspections are rare, and congressional oversight has been obstructed—as my recent interview with Rep. LaMonica McIver revealed. She’s now a year into a battle against criminal charges stemming from her attempt to inspect the facility.
So much of what we know about the inner workings of Delaney Hall comes from the letters that detainees have smuggled out with allegations of wormy food, denied medical care, and unsafe working conditions. In December 2025, 41-year-old Jean Wilson Brutus, died inside.
With Delaney Hall now thrust into the national spotlight, there’s still so much we don’t know. That’s why I wanted to talk to two reporters who have been watching this closely.
I sat down with journalist Amanda Moore and my colleague Sophie Hurwitz, both of whom have reported from outside Delaney Hall for Mother Jones.
I asked them how this place became a flashpoint, what protesters and detainees are demanding, and who is ultimately to blame.
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