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U.S. Sen. Andy Kim said he was pepper sprayed outside Delaney Hall, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, on Monday afternoon, after visiting the facility in support of detainees who are mounting a hunger strike protest.The incident came later on the same day that Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill said she tried to access Delaney Hall but was denied entry to the facility.Kim, D-New Jersey, spoke of the “chaos” at the facility and the “lawlessness of the Trump administration” that has led to the conditions inside and out, he told NorthJersey.com, part of the USA TODAY Network, by phone Monday evening after the incident.New Jersey's junior senator was visiting the facility in support of detainees who are protesting their treatment, including a lack of air conditioning and fresh food, with a hunger strike that started late last week.Senator describes 'standoff' outside ICE detention facility in New JerseyThe senator explained that, just to get inside the detention center, he "personally called [Department of Homeland Security] Secretary Markwayne Mullin [to] get his intervention.”When he exited the detention center, Kim said he found a “standoff” because armed federal officers had brought out an armored vehicle and were working to create a barricade to keep demonstrators away from Delaney Hall's fencing and entrances.Kim said that the protesters “kind of lined up in front of them” and that he “tried to get in between the ICE officers and the crowd to de-escalate.”“ICE officials told me that they were going to push through the crowd with their vehicle and they wanted to get some vehicles out of there,” Kim said. “I tried to arrange a situation where people would not get hurt, where there wouldn’t be a confrontation. Unfortunately, ICE just continued on.”He said he “immediately saw people getting tackled and brought to the ground” and that ICE “started pushing through with their vehicles.”'I tried to do whatever I could,' Sen. Andy Kim saysKim said he again ran up to try and put himself between the ICE agents and the crowd to prevent things from escalating when the agents “started shooting at us with pepper balls and using pepper spray.”“I tried to do whatever I could standing in the middle to keep people safe,” he said.While several of his congressional colleagues had been at Delaney Hall earlier in the day and had joined him on previous visits, they were not present when the confrontation occurred, Kim said.Kim said his eyes and throat were still burning. He said that the “chaos manifesting in the streets of New Jersey” is the result of the “lawlessness and unaccountability perpetuated by the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress.”He highlighted a bill currently before Congress that would provide “tens of billions of dollars” to fund ICE while the war in Iran continues and affordability issues persist throughout the country.Gov. Mikie Sherrill denied access to Delaney HallSherrill said in a May 25 statement that her “request for access to Delaney Hall was formally denied this morning, raising serious questions about what they are trying to hide from public view.”Christine Cuttita, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, called Sherrill's visit "nothing more than a political stunt on Memorial Day when visitation is currently suspended due to riots outside the facility."Kim has visited the facility several times and spoke of the detainees he met inside including an 18-year-old girl who wanted to return to her family and graduate from high school as well as a pregnant woman not getting the care she needs.The senator said the conditions inside were “inhumane.”The detainees have called for the release of individuals who are elderly, young, seriously ill or injured.The strike followed complaints from detainees alleging medical neglect, lack of air conditioning, lack of food, and rotten and spoiled meals. On Saturday, May 23, immigrant advocates alleged that a few detainees involved in the strike were targeted for retaliation. One was threatened with solitary confinement, and at least two others had visit time cut to just 5 or 10 minutes, the advocates said.What is Delaney Hall?Delaney Hall opened on May 1, 2025, as a 1,000-bed private immigration detention center, as part of the Trump administration's aggressive push to expand detention capacity.New Jersey members of Congress have been conducting oversight visits to assess the alleged conditions.Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver faces federal assault charges for allegedly hitting a federal law enforcement agent during a scuffle outside the facility last spring.Kim said that the bigger picture is not about him or the condition he’s in but its “representative of the lawlessness that is happening right now.”“We have to make sure we stay focused on those detainees that deserve more and certainly don’t deserve to be treated the way that they are, to the families that are just trying to look out for their loved ones and trying to push forward,” Kim said.Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@northjersey.com
