After months of fighting for the rights of immigrants detained in ICE facilities, MVF partner Make the Road New Jersey won a huge victory: full funding for legal services for people detained by ICE.

This massive win would not have been possible without the courage of detainees at Delaney Hall — a 1,000-bed private ICE detention facility in Newark, NJ — who have been on a hunger and labor strike for weeks protesting deplorable conditions inside, and organizations like Make the Road New Jersey fighting for them on the outside.

Photo: Make the Road New Jersey members rallying in support of a fair New Jersey state budget, including full funding for the Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative.

How We Got Here

Make the Road New Jersey (MTR NJ) is one of the leading immigrant rights organizations in the Garden State. Since the start of the second Trump administration, MTR NJ has been supporting and organizing Latine communities in the face of increased ICE attacks. 

In addition to providing “Know Your Rights” workshops and organizing immigrants around the state budget and workers’ rights, MTR NJ has also been demanding that New Jersey fully fund the Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative (DDDI), which provides legal services for immigrants detained by ICE. 

Their campaign hit a fever pitch on May Day, with a massive march and rally in Jersey City, and over the past few weeks with public attention turning to the horrific accounts of what’s happening inside Delaney Hall.  

Inside Delaney Hall: Detainees Go on Strike 

Rotten food, unsanitary living conditions, medical neglect, abuse and physical violence. These are just some of the complaints coming from inside Delaney Hall that led 300 detainees to launch an ongoing hunger and labor strike more than two weeks ago. 

In solidarity with the detainees, massive demonstrations have broken out outside of the facility, with thousands of people gathered around-the-clock protesting the conditions inside and demanding that Delaney Hall be shut down. 

Delaney Hall is the biggest immigrant detention center on the East Coast, run by private prison company GEO Group, which agreed to a $1 billion, 15-year contract with ICE to re-open the Newark facility in May 2025.

MTR NJ has been on the ground outside of Delaney Hall as part of their ongoing immigrant rights work in the Garden State. 

Outside Delaney Hall: Make the Road and Others Go on Offense 

MTR NJ has been in the fight against Delaney Hall since the facility’s opening in May 2025, and, in recent weeks in solidarity and support of striking detainees, they and allied organizations have expanded their organizing and resistance efforts.

Organizing Elected Officials

MTR NJ has been organizing elected officials to both be on site outside of Delaney Hall and also pushing for tours and visits with detainees inside the facility.

MTR NJ helped organize visits for Rep. Analilia Mejia (NJ-11), Rep. LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Rep. Frank Pallone (NJ-06), Rep. Nellie Pou (NJ-09), and Rep. Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) as well as New Jersey Assemblywoman Alixon Collazos-Gil (HD-27), who have toured Delaney Hall and met with detainees’ family members outside the facility. MTR NJ continues to organize weekly visits for New Jersey’s congressional delegation. 

MTR NJ also helped organize a visit for New Jersey U.S. Senator Andy Kim, who was pepper sprayed amid clashes between protesters and law enforcement. Senator Kim has been working for months to close Delaney Hall and recently introduced a series of amendments to end inhumane treatment at the facility. He also led the New Jersey congressional delegation in sending a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche calling for an end to ICE’s brutal treatment of Delaney Hall detainees. 

MTR NJ also participated in organizing a visit for New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill, who was finally able to tour the facility after initially being denied entry. Governor Sherrill’s visit was “closely controlled,” with officials restricting her from speaking directly with detainees and limiting her access to specific areas. 

Just prior to her visit, Governor Sherrill announced that New Jersey would fully fund the state’s Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative, which provides legal services for people detained by ICE — a massive victory catalyzed at least in part by MTR NJ’s advocacy. 

Supporting Demonstrators

Since the hunger and labor strike began, thousands of demonstrators have gathered outside Delaney Hall protesting conditions inside and demanding the facility be shut down. 

Amid violent clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement, MTR NJ has provided legal observers and brought in national organizations, including Fair Immigration Reform Movement, Detention Watch Network, Action Lab, Shared Future, and others to support organizers with communications and messaging. MTR NJ is also organizing a coalition of labor and elected officials to strategize on further demands for funding and support from Governor Sherrill and the New Jersey legislature.

Connecting Family Members

MTR NJ is also serving as a critical liaison and support for family members of Delaney Hall detainees. Because of MTR NJ’s longstanding work in New Jersey’s immigrant community, they have built trust and relationships with impacted residents, serving a primary role in both community defense and communication. 

They have been helping family members find out information about their loved ones and relay demands while detention center officials shut down visitation (which only recently resumed as a result of advocacy from elected officials and organizers).

Screenshot: The Jersey Vindicator reporting on Governor Mikie Sherrill’s announcement to fully fund New Jersey’s Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative.

The Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative (DDDI) funding victory is a direct result of MTR NJ’s ongoing organizing efforts and the increased pressure they and others put on New Jersey elected officials over the past few weeks. 

Here is some of what MTR NJ’s Director, Nedia Morsy, had to say in response to Governor Sherrill’s announcement that New Jersey would fully fund the DDDI program with $20.2 million in the upcoming state budget:

Until we abolish ICE and free everyone from Delaney Hall, providing access to a lawyer is the best way to get people out of detention centers. 

… None of this happens without the courage of the hunger and labor strikers inside Delaney Hall and everyone fighting alongside them outside. All of us – elected officials, protestors, faith leaders, and allies — have a collective responsibility to use every tool at our disposal to free them all.

Photo: Make the Road New Jersey members demanding “ICE Out of NJ” at the Jersey City May Day march and rally.

Key Takeaways 

Like the resistance during the ICE occupation of Minneapolis, strategic organizing by MTR NJ and others can serve as a blueprint for other communities and organizations facing similar atrocities, especially when up against a seemingly intractable and amoral force like the current presidential administration. Here’s what MTR NJ and other organizers have taught us about this moment:

Lesson #1: We need multi-pronged strategies.

We must organize on multiple fronts: courageous hunger and labor strikes inside, mass demonstrations and public outcry outside, and strong advocacy and pressure both on and from elected leaders.  

Lesson #2: We need amplification to shift the narrative.

Social media coverage, including from accounts like Live From Occupied (a project of MVF grantee Creator Congress), has provided some of the most viscerally compelling footage of resistance since the ICE occupation of Minneapolis. This amplification online has directly helped to catalyze national attention, shift the narrative, and galvanize public opposition and action. 

Lesson #3: We need to hold elected officials’ feet to the fire.

Through their advocacy and organizing, MTR NJ has created the conditions in which New Jersey elected officials — particularly Governor Sherrill — have to take a stand on the future of Delaney Hall, or else risk precious political capital. 

For instance, when Governor Sherrill called in the New Jersey state police, rather than having federal agents manage demonstrations, the situation quickly escalated, with police using tear gas, violence, and other aggressive tactics. MTR NJ immediately condemned the use of excessive force by the police and called on Governor Sherrill to fully fund legal services for detainees, which she later did.

MTR NJ has helped set a precedent for how elected officials in other cities and states need to be involved in one of the most motivating political issues right now.

Lesson #4: We need out-of-the-box thinking and organizing.

MTR NJ is currently testing making the economic case for shutting down Delaney Hall. MTR NJ is putting the facility’s $71 million annual operations price tag footed by U.S. taxpayers in stark contrast to the affordability crisis most Americans are facing right now to catalyze additional opposition. 

Organizers are also considering how to leverage World Cup soccer games, which begin in New Jersey on June 13, to amplify detainees’ demands and launch “No ICE in Our Cup” campaigns that other communities hosting World Cup events can replicate.

Photo: Make the Road New Jersey members at the Jersey City May Day march and rally.

Building a Movement of Resistance

In addition to providing funding, part of MVF’s unique role is to help connect our grantee partners with each other to learn, share strategies, and build a durable movement that will shape our future for years to come. 

Make the Road New Jersey has already been in close communication with other groups organizing resistance to detention centers, including facilities where detainees are or already have launched hunger strikes and other actions. 

Like Minneapolis, Delaney Hall and the effective organizing we have seen and will continue to see are now symbols that provide hope — and a plan — for what’s possible, even when faced with unbelievable and seemingly insurmountable circumstances.