Democrat governor files 'frivolous' lawsuit to shut down ICE facility

Protesters have spent nearly two weeks outside a federal detention facility in Newark — forming human chains, blocking vehicle exits, and clashing with officers in riot gear. A U.S. senator got caught in a cloud of pepper spray, and New Jersey's sitting governor, Democrat Mikie Sherrill, was turned away at the gate.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin called those incidents "nothing more than a political stunt … for fundraising clips."

Now the state has turned to the courts.

'A better gym than the one I go to.''

New Jersey Democrat Attorney General Jennifer Davenport announced Tuesday that she had filed suit against GEO Group Inc., the private company operating Delaney Hall under a $1 billion federal contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The suit seeks to compel GEO Group to grant state health inspectors full access to the facility.

The suit alleges that on Thursday, inspectors were permitted to examine only the food-service area and were blocked from the medical unit, sleeping quarters, and bathing and toileting facilities.

The broader allegations — worms in food, no toilet paper, inadequate medical care — are sourced to detainee accounts relayed through lawyers, family members, and advocacy groups. A University Hospital doctor also reported a confirmed tuberculosis case, the lawsuit claimed.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) separately announced that the city was filing its own suit to close the facility, citing an unverified report that a detainee suffered a miscarriage without proper care.

The DHS wasted no time dismissing the litigation as "frivolous."

"This is a frivolous lawsuit," the department posted on X. "ICE is committed to transparency, and Delaney Hall complies with all required state and local laws."

"Just last week on May 28, four representatives of the New Jersey State Health Department arrived at approximately 11:00 AM. They entered the facility and inspected the foodservice department. The inspection of the kitchen was completed and they departed around 12:30 PM."

The DHS has also flatly disputed the hunger strike claim: "FACT CHECK: there is NO HUNGER STRIKE at Delaney Hall."

One Republican member of Congress, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.), toured the facility and pushed back on the narrative, describing a library, an outdoor soccer field, and what he called "a better gym than the one I go to."

RELATED: 'Violent agitator' savagely bit ICE agent during riots in New Jersey, says DHS

Selçuk Acar/Anadolu/Getty Images

Movimiento Cosecha's New Jersey chapter, Cosecha New Jersey, has been present at the protests — a group that has called for an end to the entire immigration detention system — alongside ICE Out of New Jersey, Eyes on ICE New Jersey, and other radical groups.

The DHS said protesters arrived "carrying anti-ICE signs and Antifa flags" and physically blocked federal vehicles.

Security expert Lora Ries told NTD the protesters were "organized, funded, and trained" — a characterization that echoed New Jersey's own attorney general, who noted that some demonstrators arrived "armed with helmets, shields, or gas masks" and deliberately refused to leave.

Critics have also pointed to the closure last month of the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman, the primary federal watchdog for immigration detention. The DHS said, "Congress did" it, not the department.

Newark lifted its nightly curfew Tuesday evening, and family visitation was restored. The state and city lawsuits are pending.

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