Religious Leaders Block Newark ICE Center Gates, Provoke Arrests

A coalition of about 50 clergy members from various faith-based organizations staged a protest at the Delaney Hall ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey, blocking the gates and linking arms to demand answers about detainee conditions and to push for immigrant rights. This action followed the recent arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka during a Congressional oversight visit to the same facility, where Democratic lawmakers asserted their legal rights to inspect the detention center, which is managed by the private GEO Group and houses individuals described by ICE as serious criminals including gang members and terrorists. The clergy refused to move despite an ambulance being turned away, claiming it was a tactic to disperse them, and some protesters were arrested after resisting police efforts to clear the area. The protest sparked a debate over the treatment of detainees and the facility's management, with faith leaders emphasizing their moral opposition to current immigration enforcement policies, while ICE and Homeland Security officials defended the detention center's operations and the nature of those held there. The situation highlights ongoing tensions between activists, elected officials, and federal authorities over immigration detention practices and oversight. The demonstration and prior political confrontations have brought renewed scrutiny to Delaney Hall as a focal point of immigration enforcement controversy.