New Jersey Sues Delaney Hall Operator After It Refuses Full Access to Health Inspectors - New Jersey Office of Attorney
Source: NJOAG Communications
TRENTON – Attorney General Jennifer Davenport today filed a lawsuit against The GEO Group, Inc., which operates the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark. The lawsuit requests that the court grant the New Jersey Department of Health (DOH) full access to the facility, which is the focus of well-documented concerns about inhumane and unsanitary conditions for detainees.
Over Memorial Day weekend, Governor Mikie Sherrill and elected officials went to Delaney Hall after some detainees began a hunger strike to protest their deplorable living conditions. As GEO Group refused to respond to demands by the Governor, elected officials, and protesters for full transparency into conditions at Delaney Hall, DOH began trying to gain access to the taxpayer-funded facility to conduct a full inspection.
“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. “The people of New Jersey deserve transparency and accountability, and I will continue using all the power of this office to advocate for the detainees and their families.”
“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,” said Attorney General Davenport. “I will continue working with Governor Sherrill and Commissioner Washington to ensure that people detained inside Delaney Hall are treated with dignity and humanity.”
Read more: https://www.njoag.gov/new-jersey-sues-delaney-hall-operator-after-it-refuses-full-access-to-health-inspectors/
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By Andy Rose, Leigh Waldman
Updated 51 min ago
Updated Jun 2, 2026, 11:46 AM ET
PUBLISHED Jun 2, 2026, 9:32 AM ET
Newark police officers push protesters back as they enforce a curfew near the Delaney Hall Immigration Detention Center in Newark on Monday. (Adam Gray/Getty Images)
[Breaking news, published at 11:45 a.m. ET]
The state of New Jersey has filed a lawsuit against the private operator of the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility in Newark, asking a court to grant the state health department access to the center over allegations of inhumane conditions and treatment there, the governor’s office said Tuesday.
[Previous story]
As clashes between law enforcement and protesters have brought nationwide attention to the Delaney Hall immigration facility in Newark, New Jersey, the city threatened Tuesday to expand its lawsuit against the private company that operates the detention center unless city officials are allowed to inspect it.
The lawsuit expansion would ask a court to close the facility until the city could inspect it over longstanding allegations of inhumane conditions, city business administrator Eric Pennington said.
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