ICE: Newark’s Delaney Hall to reopen as immigration detention center
ICE officials said on Thursday that the reopening was “imminent” after “reaching an agreement with the facility’s owner.”
More Stories
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has announced plans to reopen Delaney Hall in Newark as an immigrant detention center. The new contract was awarded to the GEO group for a 15-year contract and is valued at $1 billion. The private corporation would generate $60 million in annual revenues.
Delaney Hall is the largest immigrant detention center on the East Coast, with 1,000 beds. This would be the first to open under the Trump administration, which has been cracking down on immigration.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka stated that this detention center is "not welcome here," and community organizers say this will bring even more terror to the state of New Jersey.
GEO Group Corporation says it plans to reactivate the facility in the second quarter of 2025 (early April to late June). According to ICE, this will help to pursue "President [Donald] Trump's mandate to arrest, detain and remove illegal aliens from communities," and the location near an international airport will help streamline the detaining process.
RELATED: Immigration populations in New Jersey told to 'know your rights' amid ICE raids
Baraka calls this a "scheme to violate people's rights."
“Delaney Hall cannot lawfully open in Newark at this time," he said.
He also implied in his statement that Delaney Hall has not yet satisfied city property use requirements inspections or permits.
“Regardless of the process, an immigrant detention center is not welcomed here," the mayor said.
"It's more of an incentive for immigration enforcement across the state," said immigration attorney Franchesca Chabla. "We're really concerned about private corporations like GEO Group but also CoreCivic in Elizabeth that they're profiting off of the civil detention of our community members here in New Jersey.”
According to the New Jersey Policy Perspective, "This new contract contradicts New Jersey’s stated values and threatens the well-being of thousands of residents who contribute to the state's economy, culture, and vitality."
The nonprofit Make The Road New Jersey says it is fighting the plan by working to increase funding and pass the Immigrant Trust Act as soon as possible.
"It prohibits sharing information from the police with ICE," explained Chabla, "And specifically prohibits the police, for example, from just stopping anybody on the street and asking them for their papers."
