{"id":163,"date":"2026-05-26T22:37:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T22:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=163"},"modified":"2026-05-26T22:37:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T22:37:02","slug":"protests-erupt-at-new-jersey-detention-center-in-support-of-hunger-striking-detainees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=163","title":{"rendered":"Protests Erupt at New Jersey Detention Center in Support of Hunger Striking Detainees"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<!-- begin partial\/series-card --><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><i><span>Truthout is an indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers everywhere. Please make this work possible with a <\/span><\/i><i><span>quick donation<\/span><\/i><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=161\">Residents of Polluted Areas Say Trump\u2019s Regulatory Rollbacks Are \u201cGetting Really Scary\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Protests erupted on Sunday night outside of the Delaney Hall immigrant jail in Newark, New Jersey, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) moved to transfer a strike leader from the jail.<\/p>\n<p>Some 300 detainees launched a hunger and labor strike on Friday in protest of the conditions at the ICE jail. On Sunday, activists and family members learned that the jail was preparing to move Martin Soto, one of the detainees who had announced the strike. <\/p>\n<p>Gabriela Soto, Martin\u2019s wife, saw ICE agents loading Martin into a van, and ran to block the van that held her husband from leaving the site. Other demonstrators joined in blocking the van from leaving the facility, and forced it back to the detention facility. Protestors formed a blockade for hours to prevent Martin Soto from being moved out of the site. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cFree Martin!\u201d the protestors chanted. \u201cFree them all!\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Later, around 1 am on Monday, ICE agents began to move a caravan of vehicles out of the facility, and protestors again attempted to block the vehicles from leaving. ICE agents then shoved aside protestors, pushing them against the sidewalk and against cars, and pepper sprayed at least one protestor. <\/p>\n<p>A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson announced on Monday that after \u201cICE successfully dispersed approximately 70 agitators\u201d it succeeded in transferring Martin to another facility. <\/p>\n<p>Since the start of the hunger strike, family members and supporters have gathered outside of the detention center. Among others, a 10-year-old child spoke about her father, who is currently being imprisoned in the facility by ICE. <\/p>\n<p>On Friday, Gabriela Soto translated calls from prisoners, including her husband Martin, who said, \u201cWe deal with racism, with bad conditions, with guards that do not help us\u2026. It gets worse all the time, and they don\u2019t treat us like people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The guards soon cut access to the detainees\u2019 phones so that these calls could not continue. <\/p>\n<p>People being imprisoned at Delaney began a hunger strike after signing two letters describing their circumstances and conditions. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe feel vulnerable and, in a way, kidnapped \u2014 detained without justification \u2014 not to mention that we are being tortured physically and psychologically due to the poor food resources provided in these detention centers,\u201d they wrote. \u201cFamilies are being destroyed and separated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=159\">Congressional Black Caucus Demands Corporations Oppose Voting Rights Rollbacks<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have seen judges in this detention center who are ready to carry out deportations and mass expulsions without properly reviewing cases,\u201d they went on. \u201cWe live with anguish and fear of appearing in court.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>One participant in the labor and hunger strike wrote in a letter describing the conditions of the jail: <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>We have people sleeping on the floor for not being processed quick enough. They neglect medications for people who are in dire need of it. All of our bonds are denied and they are telling us to file habeas corpus for everyone that is in here, they constantly tell us we are a danger to society. The same judge that denies your bond is the same judge that reviews our immigration court cases and that is not fair.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Delaney opened as an ICE jail in May 2025 in a $1 billion, 15-year contract between private prison contractor GEO Group and ICE. It is the largest ICE facility on the East Coast and has faced pushback since the announcement of its opening. <\/p>\n<p>New Jersey Democratic Sen. Andy Kim visited the detention center Saturday, and wrote on X that he saw inside it a \u201chigh school student crying and saying she just wanted to graduate senior year\u201d; a woman \u201cwho had a miscarriage in the detention facility\u201d and was \u201cleft to manage [it] all on her own\u201d; and a \u201ccarton with the milk inside congealed solid.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>On Monday, Kim returned to the site, and said that he was pepper sprayed. \u201cInstead of engaging with me and others about the poor conditions, ICE sent in an armored vehicle and a line of armed agents that only poured gasoline on the fire,\u201d he wrote on X. Kim described ICE agents tackling and restraining protestors and firing pepper balls and spray into the crowd. <\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday morning, the protest continued, and video footage from outside Delaney once again shows ICE agents detaining and dragging protestors. <\/p>\n<p>Leqaa Kordia \u2014 a Palestinian from East Jerusalem who was arrested in Newark when meeting with immigration officials about her status and then detained for over a year in ICE jails for her Palestine activism \u2014 wrote a statement in solidarity with the Delaney hunger strikers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you choose hunger over submission, you\u2019re doing something that terrifies ICE,\u201d she wrote on Monday. \u201cYou are proving that even when they break your bodies, they can\u2019t break your will. You are proving that a person stripped of freedom can\u2019t be stripped of dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know the conditions you\u2019re enduring,\u201d she went on. \u201cThe rotten food. The medical neglect. The psychological torture of indefinite limbo. I know what it took for you to look at that tray of slop and say: No more. Not until I\u2019m free.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=157\">Israel Expands Strikes and Ground Invasion in Lebanon as Iran Negotiations Stall<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some 300 detainees launched a hunger and labor strike on Friday in protest of the conditions at the ICE jail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Protests Erupt at New Jersey Detention Center in Support of Hunger Striking Detainees - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=163\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Protests Erupt at New Jersey Detention Center in Support of Hunger Striking Detainees - Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some 300 detainees launched a hunger and labor strike on Friday in protest of the conditions at the ICE jail.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=163\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-26T22:37:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=163#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=163\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"headline\":\"Protests Erupt at New Jersey Detention Center in Support of Hunger Striking Detainees\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-26T22:37:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=163\"},\"wordCount\":906,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=163#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/73cc0903fe9b31c27e2946a4867cee74.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=163#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=163\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=163\",\"name\":\"Protests Erupt at New Jersey Detention Center in Support of Hunger Striking Detainees - Smart Moving Home\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=163#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=163#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/73cc0903fe9b31c27e2946a4867cee74.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-26T22:37:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=163#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=163\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=163#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/73cc0903fe9b31c27e2946a4867cee74.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/73cc0903fe9b31c27e2946a4867cee74.jpg\",\"width\":1536,\"height\":1025},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=163#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Protests Erupt at New Jersey Detention Center in Support of Hunger Striking Detainees\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Smart Moving Home\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Protests Erupt at New Jersey Detention Center in Support of Hunger Striking Detainees - Smart Moving Home","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=163","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Protests Erupt at New Jersey Detention Center in Support of Hunger Striking Detainees - Smart Moving Home","og_description":"Some 300 detainees launched a hunger and labor strike on Friday in protest of the conditions at the ICE jail.","og_url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=163","og_site_name":"Smart Moving Home","article_published_time":"2026-05-26T22:37:02+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=163#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=163"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa"},"headline":"Protests Erupt at New Jersey Detention Center in Support of Hunger Striking Detainees","datePublished":"2026-05-26T22:37:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=163"},"wordCount":906,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=163#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/73cc0903fe9b31c27e2946a4867cee74.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=163#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=163","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=163","name":"Protests Erupt at New Jersey Detention Center in Support of Hunger Striking Detainees - Smart Moving Home","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=163#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=163#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/73cc0903fe9b31c27e2946a4867cee74.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-26T22:37:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=163#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=163"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=163#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/73cc0903fe9b31c27e2946a4867cee74.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/73cc0903fe9b31c27e2946a4867cee74.jpg","width":1536,"height":1025},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=163#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Protests Erupt at New Jersey Detention Center in Support of Hunger Striking Detainees"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/","name":"Smart Moving Home","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/smartmovinghome.com"],"url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}