Politics & Government
Detainee Population Surges At ICE Prison In NJ After It Reopens Under Trump
Most of the immigrants imprisoned at Delaney Hall don't have criminal records, data shows.
ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — The prison population at a federal immigration detention center in New Jersey has surged since it reopened under the Trump administration this year – and most of the detainees don’t have criminal records, data shows.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began housing detainees at Delaney Hall in Newark on May 1. The 1,000-bed facility is located in Newark. It was the first federal detention center to open under President Donald Trump’s second term.
Located near a major international airport, the prison formerly held immigration detainees until it closed in 2017 and was turned into a halfway house. Its reopening allows ICE to expand its detention and deportation capacity in the Northeast region of the country.
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The facility’s owner, the GEO Group – one of the largest private prison companies in the nation – was awarded a 15-year contract that it valued at $1 billion to run the new detention center.
Delaney Hall has seen a big increase in its prison population since relaunching, according to recent data from the nonpartisan Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). Recent average daily prisoner counts include:
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- May 12 – 4
- June 9 – 63
- June 23 – 96
- July 21 – 139
- Aug. 4 – 162
- Aug. 18 – 187
- Sept. 2 – 212
- Sept. 15 – 234
- Nov. 10 – 807
President Trump has insisted that a nationwide crackdown is needed to push back against a “large-scale invasion” of illegal immigration.
As part of his campaign platform in 2024, Trump vowed to immediately launch a nationwide immigration crackdown as soon as he was elected. His administration didn’t waste any time making its first moves. On his first day in office, the White House announced a sweeping wave of presidential actions and executive orders – including several involving immigration.
“Our southern border is overrun by cartels, criminal gangs, known terrorists, human traffickers, smugglers, unvetted military-age males from foreign adversaries, and illicit narcotics that harm Americans,” Trump declared.
- See Related: ICE Arrests 4 Convicted Child Sex Offenders In New Jersey
- See Related: ICE Arrests Wanted Homicide Suspect In Essex County, Officials Say
In June, four detainees at Delaney Hall escaped from the prison, breaking through a second-story wall, jumping onto mattresses and climbing over an outside fence. Each faced charges for alleged crimes in New Jersey, including assault, possession of a weapon and burglary.
Advocates and family members of ICE detainees have pushed back against the claim that most of the immigrants imprisoned at facilities like Delaney Hall are “criminals,” however. They include a New Jersey resident, whose 29-year-old cousin was arrested in a high-profile immigration raid at a seafood distributor in Newark last year.
“My primo is the sweetest, kindest, most hardworking person you’ll ever meet,” she told NJ Advance Media, adding that he “pays all his bills on time, has never gotten into any trouble and is the type of person to do just about everything right.”
According to data from the Department of Homeland Security, about 90 percent of the 807 people detained at Delaney Hall do not have criminal records, NJ Spotlight News reported.
ICE also houses federal detainees at another private prison in New Jersey: the Elizabeth Detention Facility in Union County.
The prison – which is run by CoreCivic – held a daily average of 287 prisoners on Nov. 10, according to the TRAC database. About 80 percent do not have criminal records, NJ Spotlight News reported.
Many of the recent immigration raids in New Jersey have involved workplaces.
In July, several people were taken into custody during an immigration enforcement operation at a wine and spirits warehouse in Edison. Later that month, 15 people were detained by ICE on their way to work at a local landscaping company in Princeton. And in October, federal authorities took 46 people into custody during an inspection at a container freight station in Woodbridge.
PRISON CONDITIONS
Advocates have been holding repeated protests and rallies outside Delaney Hall in Newark since it reopened, alleging that the detainees – and people trying to visit them – are facing “inhumane” treatment.
In October, several members of the Essex County Board of Commissioners sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem about Delaney Hall.
The commissioners claimed that conditions inside the prison are getting “increasingly more concerning,” with reports allegedly including lockdowns that last for days, verbal abuse from guards, inaccessible commissary funds and blocked phone numbers.
The League of Women Voters of New Jersey has also issued some scathing allegations about conditions at the prison, reporting that there has been “severe overcrowding” and other issues at Delaney Hall.
Other complaints have included claims of bad food and subpar access to medical care – allegations that the GEO Group has previously denied.
“We remain dedicated to providing high-quality services to those in our care, including include around-the-clock access to medical care, in-person and virtual legal and family visitation, general and legal library access, translation services, dietician-approved meals, religious and specialty diets, recreational amenities, and opportunities to practice their religious beliefs,” a spokesperson told Patch.
According to the company’s website, all of its ICE processing centers are independently accredited by the American Correctional Association and the National Commission on Correctional Health Care.
The company's assurances haven't stopped the complaints from advocates and local officials, however.
“You should be ashamed of this facility and the treatment of those being detained here,” the commissioners' letter says. “The detainees of Delaney Hall deserve to be treated with dignity and respect as they await a trial, not treated inhumanely.”
Advocates have also criticized the visitation process for people waiting to see their family members. Visitors say they have been forced to stand outside on a shadeless sidewalk this summer amid scorching temperatures in one of the state’s worst “urban heat islands,” and kept waiting outside in a torrential storm near a metal fence this fall.
After visitors complained about the conditions, a shelter with a roof was erected outside next to the parking lot. It got a thumbs down from U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, a Newark resident.
“This ‘canopy’ is offensive,” Booker wrote. “The GEO Group reported revenue of $1.92 billion in the first nine months of 2025, including a contract to operate Delaney Hall Detention Center for the next 15 years. This is all they provide taxpaying New Jerseyans trying to visit their loved ones in rainy, cold and windy conditions.”
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On the flip side of the coin, some Republican politicians – including U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew – have claimed that detainees at the controversial facility are being “treated with dignity” and are being housed in a place that “exceeds the standards of many of our own U.S. prisons.”
“This is not about politics,” the congressman argued during a House Judiciary session in May. “This is about public safety. This is about law and order. This is about whether the United States of America still has the will to enforce its own laws.”
Van Drew criticized former president Joe Biden, accusing his administration of allowing millions of undocumented immigrants to cross the southwest border illegally.
“The only bright side of this chaos is that the American people made their choices overwhelmingly clear by rejecting these chaotic and terrible policies,” he said. “They removed President Biden and border-czar Harris and gave Republicans control of the House, the Senate and the presidency. And now, President Trump is back in office and finally doing what should have been done years ago: restoring order, rebuilding capacity and demanding accountability.”
Although the focus on federal immigration enforcement has ramped up since Trump took office, large-scale ICE raids also took place in New Jersey during Biden’s term.
The agency’s Newark field office processes federal detainees from across the state. Prior to New Jersey’s ban on ICE contracts, hundreds of people were being arrested and deported from the office every month.
A major immigration sweep took place in North Jersey the week before Trump’s inauguration, with ICE’s Newark field office arresting 33 non-citizens who have committed or been accused of crimes.
NJ LAW CHALLENGED, PARTLY OVERTURNED
Under a landmark 2021 state law, all prisons in New Jersey – public or private – were banned from making new contracts with ICE to hold federal detainees. Prisons were also banned from expanding or renewing old agreements.
The GEO Group and CoreCivic challenged the state ban in court. A judge ruled in 2023 that CoreCivic could keep its jail in Elizabeth open.
In July, a federal appeals court struck down part of New Jersey’s law. Third Circuit judges argued that the civil detention of immigrants is a “core function” of the United States government.
A spokesperson with CoreCivic told Patch that the company has been playing an important role in America’s immigration system for decades – regardless of which political party is office.
“CoreCivic does not enforce immigration laws, arrest anyone who may be in violation of immigration laws, or have any say whatsoever in an individual’s deportation or release,” the spokesperson said. “CoreCivic also does not know the circumstances of individuals when they are placed in our facilities. Our responsibility is to care for each person respectfully and humanely while they receive the legal due process that they are entitled to.”
Advocates blasted the ruling, saying that it opens the floodgates to similar legal challenges.
“This is a win for the corporate overlords who have already made a mockery of the federal government,” New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice executive director Amy Torres said.
The GEO Group, which is valued at $4 billion, and CoreCivic, which is valued at $2.2 billion, are part of a massive industry that is expected to grow significantly while Trump is in office, Open Secrets previously reported.
According to Open Secrets, the GEO Group spent $1.38 million lobbying the federal government in 2024, and CoreCivic spent $1.77 million. Much of their focus was the appropriations bill funding the Department of Homeland Security, which includes the budget for ICE.
The day after Trump was reelected to his second term, the companies’ stock prices soared: GEO Group’s by about 41 percent and CoreCivic’s by nearly 29 percent.
While the current debate is focused on private prison companies, government-run prisons that housed ICE detainees have also faced intense scrutiny in the past.
Essex and Hudson counties got paid millions of dollars to hold immigrant detainees for ICE for years before ending their controversial federal contracts.
In 2018, nonprofit advocacy group Human Rights First alleged that conditions were “inhumane” for detainees at three prisons in New Jersey: the Essex County Correctional Facility, the Hudson County Correctional Facility, and the Elizabeth Detention Facility.
Alleged issues at the jails included maggot-infested food, suicide risks, a lack of clean underwear and medical treatment done on a “cost-benefit analysis.”
- See Related: Maggots, Squalor For ICE Detainees At 'Inhumane' NJ Jails, Report Says
- See Related: Jail Served Us Meatballs That Smelled Like Feces, NJ Inmate Says
- See Related: Essex County Jail Stuck ICE Detainees With Giant Underwear, Feds Say
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