Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat who has clashed with the Trump administration over immigration policies, joined protests outside a detention center in New Jersey on Monday in support of detainees participating in a hunger strike.
After demanding access to Delaney Hall in Newark, Ms. Sherrill heard from family members of detainees, who have complained about rotten and spoiled food and inadequate medical care. Dozens of protesters waved signs, banged on drums, and chanted “Free Them All!” The governor told the crowd she had requested access but was denied.
“No matter what your immigration status is, you shouldn’t be treated with anything less than dignity in this country,” said Ms. Sherrill, who was dressed in a T-shirt, jeans, and blue-gray jacket on the Memorial Day holiday. At one point, she rested her hand on the shoulder of a crying relative and smoothed the hair of an upset child.
As Mr. Trump’s immigration policies have spurred protests nationwide, Gov. Sherrill has repeatedly clashed with his administration. In April, the Trump administration sued Ms. Sherrill and New Jersey’s attorney general over a state law that bars law enforcement officers, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, from wearing masks while on duty.
The 1,000-bed detention center, which is privately run, has emerged as a focal point in Mr. Trump’s immigration crackdown since it reopened last year. It has filled with hundreds of immigrants detained in New York City and around the Northeast as agents have ramped up the arrests of migrants in homes, courthouses and federal offices.
It was at least the second time the Trump administration had sued to overturn immigration policies enacted by Ms. Sherrill.
On Monday, the governor and other elected officials, including Mayor Ras J. Baraka of Newark, appeared at Delaney Hall amid growing concerns over the hunger strike, which started on Friday inside the gray, cinder-block building enclosed by a high chain link fence topped with razor wire.
Immigration advocates have rallied outside Delaney Hall since Friday. Detainees said they would go on a hunger and labor strike while calling for an investigation of the detention center and its operations and for Ms. Sherrill to visit to discuss protections from ICE. Hundreds of detainees were participating, one protester told Ms. Sherrill.
The governor said in a statement on Sunday that she had contacted ICE to gain access to the detention center and was working to monitor the situation and “do what’s necessary to ensure humane conditions.”
At Monday’s protest, some protesters shouted in Ms. Sherrill’s face to criticize her for not showing up earlier in the weekend, like other elected officials had.
Representative Rob Menendez of New Jersey had arrived at 8 p.m. on Sunday and stayed all night until he was allowed into the center on Monday morning. Mr. Menendez said that he had spoken to some of the detainees inside Delaney Hall, including a young woman who just wanted to go to her high school graduation, a pregnant woman who was trying to get medical care, and a man who showed him a carton of milk that had gone rancid.
“I heard just desperation from so many people in there,” Mr. Menendez said afterward.
Angela Martinez told Ms. Sherrill that her cousin, Bolivar Bueno, 65, has diabetes and that she hasn’t been able to speak to him to make sure he is getting medication. “We don’t know what’s going on,” she told the governor.
Afterward, Ms. Martinez said, “I want for her to help me out.”
Ms. Sherrill left after about an hour, around 11:30 a.m., as some demonstrators jeered at her. Her security had to clear the road of a couple people who tried to stop her S.U.V. from leaving.
It’s not the first time Delaney Hall has faced protests. In June 2025, four men escaped from the detention center after days of unrest over meager and sporadic meals and overcrowding that forced some detainees to sleep on the floor. Detainees had smashed windows, doors and security cameras.
And Mr. Baraka, the Newark mayor, was arrested in May 2025 during a clash with federal agents outside its gates last year.
Winnie Hu is a Times reporter covering the people and neighborhoods of New York City.
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