OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
8:16 AM – Thursday, June 4, 2026
New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport has filed a lawsuit against the owner of Delaney Hall, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, to demand access for health inspectors.
On Tuesday, the attorney general announced the lawsuit against GEO Group, the private company that operates the facility, citing “well-documented concerns about inhumane and unsanitary conditions for detainees,” according to a press release.
“Reports about conditions at Delaney Hall are shocking. Bad or no medical care, no toilet paper, worms in food. Even a report of tuberculosis,” she wrote on X.
She noted that the suit would secure immediate access for the New Jersey Department of Health (DOH) to conduct a full health inspection.
She explained that over the weekend, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) and other elected officials visited the detention center after some detainees held a hunger strike. Meanwhile, protests and riots went on outside the facility for several days, prompting Sherrill to order state police to create a “protected protest zone.”
GEO Group allegedly refused access to the Governor and to health inspection officials last week.
“If the GEO Group — with a $1 billion government contract — has nothing to hide and the conditions inside Delaney Hall are as safe and as sanitary as this private corporation and the Trump Administration claim, then there is no legitimate reason why my health inspectors are being kept from full access throughout the building,” said Governor Sherrill in Tuesday’s statement.
“GEO Group must allow our state’s health inspectors to conduct a full inspection of Delaney Hall. The reports of unsanitary and unsafe conditions inside Delaney Hall are extremely concerning, and GEO Group—like any other business and facility in New Jersey—must follow the law,” Davenport added.
The complaint alleged that since the immigration center began operating in May 2025, “public reporting has raised significant concerns about public health conditions in the facility, including overcrowding and lack of ventilation; lack of or inadequate medical care or hygiene practices; unsanitary food and drink preparation and storage; and the unchecked spread of communicable diseases like COVID-19 and Influenza. In addition, direct reports to the Department have complained of unsanitary bathroom conditions and potentially inadequate Tuberculosis infection control practices.”
Sherrill continued her statement in an X post on Wednesday.
“ICE is denying me entry to Delaney Hall – raising serious questions about what is happening behind its walls,” she wrote. “Last night in Jersey City, I met with families whose loved ones are being detained there. What I heard only deepened my concerns.”
She added that detainees have requested to meet with her, and she would like to meet with them. She would also “work toward the ultimate goal of closing Delaney Hall.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) brushed off the legal filing as “frivolous,” denying the claim that the health department was barred from entry.
“This is a frivolous lawsuit. ICE is committed to transparency, and Delaney Hall complies with all required state and local laws,” the department said on X on Tuesday.
“Just last week on May 28, four representatives of the New Jersey State Health Department arrived at approximately 11:00 a.m. They entered the facility and inspected the foodservice department. The inspection of the kitchen was completed and they departed around 12:30 p.m. We will continue to grant state and local inspectors’ access to the facility where appropriate,” it explained.
“ICE is regularly audited and inspected by external agencies,” it concluded. “All detainees are provided with proper meals, quality water, blankets, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and lawyers.”
The DHS also responded to the nearly two weeks of clashes between protesters and law enforcement officers.
“The Delaney Hall riot is not random — it is part of a HIGHLY coordinated campaign of violence against our officers,” the department stated. “Our message is clear: we will find, arrest, and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law ANY of these rioters who threaten or assault our law enforcement.”
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