Lawmakers, and even Governor Sherrill, have been denied access to Delaney Hall, the immigration detention facility in Newark run by the GEO Group. That should concern every elected official in this state.
No private company holding a 15-year federal contract worth roughly $1 billion should be able to block public oversight or avoid basic accountability. When elected officials are turned away from a facility operating in our own state, something is very wrong.
We are asking lawmakers to respond publicly and urgently.
Over the past several years, the Legislature has taken real steps to protect residents from federal overreach. Codifying the Immigrant Trust Directive and passing the state’s recent data privacy protections matter. Those policies make people safer and send a clear message about the kind of state New Jersey wants to be.
But this moment is exposing the limits of those protections and the need to strengthen them.
Across the state, immigrant justice organizations, legal service providers, faith leaders, advocates, and community groups are already carrying enormous responsibility. They are representing detained residents, supporting families, documenting abuses, organizing rapid-response efforts, and helping people understand their rights as fear and uncertainty grow. Their work is holding communities together right now.
Yet proposed cuts to legal services threaten that just work when it is needed most. Access to legal representation can determine whether families stay together, whether people remain detained, and whether residents can navigate an increasingly hostile system at all. This is not the time to pull back support.
We also want to be clear: this issue does not stop with immigrant communities. When transparency erodes, when detention systems operate without meaningful oversight, and when elected officials are blocked from doing their jobs, that affects everyone. These are questions about accountability, public power, and whether basic rights still hold when people need them most.
Lawmakers have more power here than many are willing to acknowledge. Oversight authority matters. Budget decisions matter. Public pressure matters. What elected officials choose to say — or not say — matters too.
We urge lawmakers to:
- Speak publicly about conditions at Delaney Hall and other detention facilities;
- Demand access and transparency from the GEO Group and federal authorities;
- Review law enforcement and detention-related contracts, including food and transportation services, connected to immigration enforcement;
- Advance stronger oversight of ICE activity in New Jersey;
- Protect and expand funding for legal services, including the Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative, and immigrant support programs;
- Divest New Jersey’s public pension funds from Palantir, whose technology powers ICE data and targeting operations;
- Build on existing protections, including the Immigrant Trust Act and recent data privacy laws;
- Work directly with the organizations already leading this work on the ground.
People across New Jersey are paying attention to how leaders respond at this moment. Silence reads as indifference. Residents deserve to know that their elected officials will use their authority to protect civil rights, demand accountability, and stand up for the people of this state.
Sincerely,
Nicole Rodriguez
President
New Jersey Policy Perspective
