Detainees revolt at Newark's Delaney Hall ICE facility; several reportedly unaccounted for
Active manhunt underway for 4 detainees who escaped from detention center in North Jersey
The manhunt is ongoing after reports surfaced of a possible uprising after disorder broke out at a Newark, New Jersey immigration detention center Thursday night.
NEWARK, N.J. - As many as 50 immigrant detainees staged a revolt on Thursday at the Delaney Hall ICE detention center in Newark, NJ, with several migrants reportedly unaccounted for. According to the multiple reports, four men escaped and are still missing.
What happened at Delaney Hall?
What we know:
ICE officials have been holding migrants facing deportation at Delaney Hall. According to a lawyer who spoke with NJ.com, the inmates banded together and pushed down a dormitory wall to break free, all while protesters were gathered outside the facility.
Meanwhile, the New York Post reports a manhunt is underway for four people who are still on the run after the detainees created a rope out of bedsheets, which they used to descend from their third floor dorm.
Earlier in the day, around three dozen people held a demonstration outside the facility protesting allegations of poor conditions inside. Amy Torres, executive director with the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, said that a dispute broke out after meals were delivered late.
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - JUNE 12: Police officers clear a path for a car leaving from Delaney Hall, a migrant detention facility, after anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activists tried to block it on June 12, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey
"New Jersey has a nonprofit-run rapid response line and one of the volunteers who staffs that line received a call from inside Delaney Hall," Torres said. "The fight was over the fact that people had not been given food for over 20 hours. When people started protesting over lunch, that's when things escalated with guards inside and the facility went into lockdown."
What they're saying:
In a statement, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said: "We are concerned about reports of what has transpired at Delaney Hall, ranging from withholding food and poor treatment, to uprising and escaped detainees. This entire situation lacks sufficient oversight of every basic detail – including local zoning laws and fundamental constitutional rights.
The backstory:
Last month, a protest resulted in Baraka's arrest. He said he, along with several members of Congress, including New Jersey Democrat LaMonica McIver, were invited to tour the facility when ICE officials took them into custody for trespassing. Less than two weeks later, the charges against Baraka were dropped, but he has since filed a lawsuit over the arrest.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka speaks out after arrest
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is speaking out publicly for the first time since he was arrested for allegedly attempting to break into an ICE facility during a protest.
Meanwhile, a federal grand jury indicted McIver on three criminal counts of assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering with federal officers. She is set to be arraigned on Monday, and, if convicted, she could face time in prison.
What we don't know:
FOX 5 NY has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, but have not heard back.