A few dozen protesters rallied outside the New Jersey statehouse in Trenton on Monday, carrying signs reading “U made it worse” and “Gov Sherrill, stop lying about Delaney Hall,” according to The Guardian. One collective chant captured the mood: “Hey, Mikie, WTF?”
The target was Sherrill, a former federal prosecutor and U.S. Congress member who took office in January after strengthening sanctuary protections within the state. Protesters told The Guardian that Sherrill has failed to address the situation at Delaney Hall, where at least 300 detainees have been on a hunger and labor strike that began in late May over conditions they describe as inhumane.
Over the weekend, Sherrill deployed state police to “lower the temperature” at the protest site outside the facility, where hundreds of people had been gathering daily in support of the detainees. Instead, according to multiple protest organizers who spoke to The Guardian, tensions escalated. State police arrived in riot gear and on horseback; dozens of protesters were arrested and some were hospitalized, organizers said. A local news crew was pulled from their vehicle and exposed to teargas, and other journalists were arrested and held in custody for a full day, the paper reported.
Sherrill has not yet met the strikers’ demands, the first of which is a meeting with her. Early last week, Immigration and Customs Enforcement denied her access to the facility. She said she is still being denied but has met with family members of the detainees.
“I will continue fighting for accountability, transparency, and better conditions at Delaney Hall,” Sherrill posted on X on Wednesday. “The detainees have requested to meet with me and I want to meet with them.”
Protesters told The Guardian they are upset not only with Sherrill but also with her appointed state Attorney General Jennifer Davenport for sending in state police forces they say brutalized protesters while failing to meet any of the demands issued by the hunger and labor strikers. In addition to protesting outside Delaney, demonstrators have been rallying at officials’ offices, reiterating calls for the detainees’ release and protection of First Amendment rights.
“It’s about as gross a betrayal of these families [of detainees] and her voters as you can get,” Sameer Khetan, a New Jersey resident who helped lead the Trenton rally, told The Guardian.
Defending the deployment, Sherrill blamed “violence” at the protests on “people coming from out of state to create chaos and dangerous situations.” The Guardian noted that some protesters have come from nearby states such as New York and Pennsylvania, but that many of the Delaney detainees are also from New York, according to an analysis by Austin Kocher, a Syracuse University research assistant professor. Advocates and organizers condemned the “outside agitator” rhetoric, saying it distracts from officials’ responsibility to protect detainees and close the facility.
On June 3, hunger and labor strikers inside Delaney issued a statement detailing violence within the facility in retaliation for the strike: “We have been subjected to reprisals, discrimination, mockery, mistreatment and threats, mainly from ‘GEO’ staff,” referring to the Geo Group, which operates the facility. The strikers said ICE agents pepper-sprayed them, sending some to the hospital: “To this day, we haven’t heard anything about those people.”
A Geo Group spokesperson confirmed to the City Reporter that staff used “chemical agents” in response to “a physical altercation involving detainees.” In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security claimed that “all affected detainees were promptly evaluated by on-site medical personnel and were cleared with no serious injuries.”
John Mark Rozendaal, a musician, was playing his cello outside Delaney on Friday night when state police descended in riot gear. He told The Guardian that police threw his cello to the side and removed his mask, exposing him to teargas. “Since [organizers] were asking for musicians, I took my cello and I played,” he said. “I hoped that my playing out there outside the mutual aid tent was comforting and calming for someone.” He was arrested. One protester outside Sherrill’s office on Monday held a sign with livestream photos of Rozendaal’s arrest, captioned “Mikie Sherrill turning down the temperature.”
Multiple protesters told The Guardian they hoped Sherrill could be removed through a recall; at least one progressive group that had supported her called for her resignation.
“This is not the person I thought I was voting for,” said Neal McGrath at the rally outside Sherrill’s office on Monday. “If I knew that this was going to happen, I don’t think I would’ve voted for her.”
The hunger-striking detainees and their supporters have achieved some gains since the strike began. Visitation, previously suspended, is slowly being permitted again, according to the advocacy group Cosecha New Jersey, which also reported that as of June 1, all pregnant detainees inside Delaney Hall had been released.
On June 1, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka announced the city would take over supervision of the protests from state police, distancing himself from the weekend’s events. Baraka lifted the curfew and removed the barricades that state police had erected around the protest area, allowing noise support for detainees to resume.
New Jersey elected officials are also pursuing legal action. On June 2, Baraka, Sherrill, and Davenport announced lawsuits against Geo Group, citing health concerns and the state department of health being denied full access to the facility. The city of Newark has been engaged in legal action against Geo Group since April 2025.
DHS responded on X: “This is a frivolous lawsuit. ICE is committed to transparency, and Delaney Hall complies with all required state and local laws.”
Pressure on Sherrill continues. On Wednesday, she told callers on WNYC that “if state police crossed lines, the state attorney general would look into the matter.” On Thursday, she announced a $12 million increase in funding for the Detention Deportation Defense Initiative, the state’s free legal services program for residents facing deportations, and a rapid legal response initiative for emergency immigration defense.
Organizers say their work is not over as long as detainees remain at Delaney. After Baraka lifted the curfew on Tuesday, protesters returned to the facility, allowing detainees to hear the chants for the first time that week.
“When we’re outside Delaney Hall, we’re chanting: ‘Free them all,’” Rozendaal told The Guardian. “We see them waving to us. We see them making little heart shapes with their hands. We hear from the families that the people inside are strengthened and rejoiced by our presence out there.”