Anti-ICE Protest Turns VIOLENT After Rioters Clash!

restoreamericanglory.com — Outside a nondescript brick complex in Newark, a fight over worms in the food, riot gear on the lawn, and who actually tells the truth about immigration detention just boiled over into pepper spray and rubber bullets.

Story Snapshot

Protests at Delaney Hall turned violent as federal agents in riot gear confronted demonstrators blocking detention vans.
Detainees and advocates allege a hunger strike, inedible food, and inadequate medical care; federal officials flatly deny it.
New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill was denied entry, while Senator Andy Kim got in and emerged demanding answers.
The clash exposes a deeper battle over private detention, transparency, and who Americans should believe about what happens behind locked doors.

Violent confrontation outside a quiet-looking detention center

Newark commuters who passed Delaney Hall this week did not see a policy seminar; they saw a small war zone. News cameras captured rows of federal immigration agents in riot gear using pepper spray, pepper balls, and what were described as rubber bullets to push back protesters who had linked arms to block vehicles from leaving the property.^[1] Tear gas followed as officers cleared people from the entrance, physically lifting or shoving those who refused to move.^[3] Demonstrators framed their blockade as the only leverage they had for those locked inside.

Federal officers and their defenders describe something very different. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) publicly called the crowd “agitators” and “rioters,” accusing roughly 125 people of surrounding the facility, forming human chains around entrances, and setting up barricades that blocked all entries and exits.^[2] From that vantage point, this was not a prayer vigil but an organized effort to obstruct law enforcement. Conservative instincts about order and the rule of law will recognize that any government worth its salt cannot let a detention facility be besieged without response.

Inside allegations: hunger strike, worms in food, and missing medicine

While the cameras fixated on the chaos outside, the spark came from claims about life inside. Advocates say hundreds of detainees launched a hunger strike, refusing meals to protest what they called inhumane conditions, from rotten or frozen food to reports of live worms found in meals.^[1] One activist described people denied even basic items such as toilet paper, while another said detainees reported threats of retaliation, including transfers and cuts to family visitation if they kept protesting.^[1] Fox News reported that 300 detainees signed an open letter alleging inadequate medical care and insufficient food.^[2]

The most serious allegations involve detainees with HIV, cancer, and other serious illnesses who, according to that letter, were not receiving proper treatment or meaningful access to doctors.^[2] Families and advocates say detainees struggle to speak regularly with relatives and lawyers, despite official claims about communication tablets and phones.^[1]^[2] The facility’s private operator, The GEO Group, denies wrongdoing, while DHS insists detainees receive what it calls comprehensive medical care, three meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, and toiletries.^[2] The problem for the public is simple: no one outside can see the charts, menus, or medication logs.

Competing narratives from DHS, lawmakers, and a private jailer

DHS has chosen a blunt strategy: deny the existence of a hunger strike and present Delaney Hall as meeting standards “higher than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens.”^[2] Their statement lists services in reassuring bureaucratic detail and portrays the protesters as radicals trying to “smear law enforcement and riot” rather than engage in oversight. For Americans who prioritize border enforcement and who distrust activist groups, this message will feel familiar and comfortable: professionals are handling things; activists are causing chaos.^[2]

But some elected Democrats with direct oversight authority have complicated that picture. Senator Andy Kim said several detainees personally told him about inedible food, lack of medical care and medication, and difficulty accessing attorneys after he was allowed inside.^[1] Governor Mikie Sherrill, by contrast, was denied entry entirely, which she blasted as raising “even more questions about what they are trying to hide from public view.”^[2] DHS brushed off her attempt as a “political stunt” on Memorial Day, noting visitation was suspended “due to riots outside the facility.”^[2] When the agency that controls the doors also controls the story, skepticism is rational, not radical.

Private detention, limited transparency, and what conservatives should demand

Delaney Hall is a privately run facility with about 1,000 beds and roughly 300 detainees currently inside.^[1] That business model means taxpayers fund detention while a contractor manages day-to-day operations. On paper, this can save money and bring efficiencies. In practice, when conditions are disputed and inspections are restricted, the public is essentially asked to take the word of a company whose revenue depends on keeping those beds full and those contracts intact. Conservative common sense would never accept that level of opacity from a school board, much less a jail.

Clashes erupt between protesters and ICE agents at Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark.

Protesters surged forward, piling up to block ICE vehicles, as agents pushed back aggressively, swinging batons and rushing the crowd, while cars forced their way through the chaos. pic.twitter.com/mY2s7jbzMA

— CrazyClips (@CrazyCrazyclips) May 27, 2026

Law and order principles do not require blind faith. A serious approach would demand hard records: meal logs, medical charts, grievance and incident reports, and unfiltered inspection findings. If, as DHS says, Delaney Hall meets high standards and provides proper care, those documents should vindicate officers and embarrass their critics. If the detainees’ open letter and advocates’ claims hold water, then Americans should want problems fixed, not buried. The worst outcome is exactly what we have now: pepper spray on camera, paperwork in the dark, and no shared set of facts.