Dem Governor Spends Memorial Day Joining Anti-ICE Protest

Democratic New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill spent Memorial Day protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) outside a federal detention center after reports emerged that detainees inside were engaged in a hunger strike over conditions.

Sherrill demanded access to the Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark on Monday. Her request to inspect the facility “was formally denied,” she said, adding that it raised “serious questions about what they are trying to hide from public view.”

Several of her fellow New Jersey Democratic colleagues in Congress, including Sen. Andy Kim and Rep. Rob Menendez, toured the facility over the weekend. Congressional members have federal oversight authority over such detention centers that state governors lack.

“I have long opposed private detention facilities and will continue to advocate for the closure of Delaney Hall and against any expansion of mass detention facilities in New Jersey, like the proposed facility in Roxbury,” Sherrill said. “I came today to hear from families and advocates, and what I heard from them was heartbreaking.”

The New Jersey governor characterized the detainees being held inside the facility as “fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, and members of our community.”

“In New Jersey, we believe in the rule of law and that everyone deserves to be treated with basic dignity. We have a duty to safeguard the rights, health, and well-being of everyone within our borders,” she said.

(Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

Anti-ICE protesters clashed with federal authorities on Monday and attempted to form a human chain to prevent agents from transferring detainees in and out of the facility. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said “approximately 125 agitators surrounded” the detention center while “carrying anti-ICE signs and Antifa flags,” according to Fox News.

Tensions continued to rise as protesters learned of ICE’s plans to transfer one of the detainees, Martin Alonso Soto Hernandez, to another facility, according to CNN.

Sherrill met with his pregnant wife, Gabriela Soto, outside the facility, CBS News reported. The woman claimed that federal authorities “lied” to her husband and “told him he was getting released,” adding that she “witnessed him getting kidnapped, shoved and thrown in a van.”

DHS characterized her husband as “an illegal alien” who was “charged with assault” and “was scheduled for a transfer to another ICE detention facility” when “agitators obstructed the vehicle’s path.”

I went to Delaney Hall after reports of unsafe and unconstitutional conditions inside, and what I heard from families and advocates was heartbreaking. The people being held there are fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters who deserve to be treated with dignity.⁰⁰My request to… pic.twitter.com/gQiqPyBBfB

— Governor Mikie Sherrill (@GovSherrillNJ) May 25, 2026

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin called the Democratic politicians’ actions “nothing more than a political stunt … for fundraising clicks.”

Mullin denied that detainees were engaged in a hunger strike and said “there are no subprime conditions” inside the facility.

Immigrants at Delaney Hall are on a hunger strike because they are fighting for their human rights. The conditions there are deplorable.

We’re working with our partners in the state to bring an end to this nightmare and I’ll be going to Delaney Hall again to conduct oversight.…

— Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBooker) May 25, 2026

“@SenBooker, @SenatorAndyKim, @RepMenendez, @RepNellie, @FrankPallone, @GovSherrillNJ and dozens of New Jersey sanctuary politicians chose to spend their Memorial Day weekend smearing ICE law enforcement,” Mullin said. “They should be thanking our law enforcement for removing these murderers, pedophiles, rapists, and drug traffickers from their state.”

“Would these sanctuary politicians like to house these criminals in their homes or have them as neighbors? We need these sanctuary politicians to stop peddling this garbage and cooperate with us to get these criminals out of their state,” Mullin added.

Delaney Hall, a privately run detention facility that can hold roughly 1,000 detainees, has been the site of violent anti-ICE demonstrations.

Last summer, federal authorities hit Democratic New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver with a three-count indictment for allegedly obstructing the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka during a protest outside Delaney Hall.

McIver has pleaded not guilty in the case, which remains ongoing.