Women detained at Delaney Hall, a privately operated immigration facility in New Jersey, have launched a hunger and labor strike, joining men who began similar action last month. Nearly 40 women in unit 1 of the contentious complex announced their participation Thursday, releasing a set of demands they say reflect fundamental human rights.
The strikers are calling on Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release women under 21, those with documented medical conditions, and mothers. They also want faster processing of their immigration cases and improvements to conditions inside the facility itself.
Delaney Hall, operated by the Geo Group private prison company, has become a flashpoint in the Trump administration's broader push for mass deportations. Over 300 men launched their own hunger and labor strike last month, drawing supporters to protest outside and sparking a forceful police response with pepper spray and tear gas.
On Thursday morning, clergy members, advocates, and family members gathered at the facility's gates. Archange Antoine, a minister with the Clergy Coalition for Liberation, framed the women's demands as straightforward. "Today, we stand with the women demanding release, safe living conditions, medical care, legal representation, family visitation, safe drinking water and protection from abuse," Antoine said. "These are not radical demands. These are demands rooted in basic human rights."
The men's strike began on May 22, when detainees submitted their own list of demands including a meeting with New Jersey's governor, improved conditions, release of elderly and sick detainees, and expedited court hearings. A small number of women participated at that time, but the Thursday announcement represents a significant expansion of the action.
After the initial strike began, immigrant rights groups documented what they call systematic retaliation. Family visits have been canceled, communication tablets removed from units, and advocates estimate roughly 90 detainees were transferred to other facilities this week alone. "Not just because of what it does to the physical body, but also because we have seen that the guards and that ICE are retaliating against the strikers," said Catalina Adorno, a volunteer with Cosecha, an immigrant rights organization based in New Jersey.
The facility has faced mounting scrutiny since opening last year under a 15-year, billion-dollar ICE contract. Congressional oversight visits have corroborated detainee complaints about inadequate medical care, poor food quality, and negligent staff. A woman whose husband has been held at Delaney for two months, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear of ICE retaliation, expressed the personal toll. "He's not a criminal. He sacrifices himself every day for his family and for his home. We all want our family members home."
The women's strike announcement also coincided with the release of a letter written by female detainees weeks earlier. "Most of the women detained at this center were illegally detained by ICE," the letter stated. "We were taken at the entrances of our immigration court check-ins, at our jobs, taking our kids to school. The treatment we received from this center is deplorable from screams, racism, and bad medical attention."
Two 18-year-old women and all pregnant women detained at Delaney have since been released, a development advocates marked as a partial victory.
The Department of Homeland Security moved quickly to deny the strike was occurring. "Another day, another hoax about ICE," a DHS spokesperson said. "There is no hunger strike at Delaney Hall at this time. No detainees are being beaten or abused. All detainees are provided with three meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap, and toiletries."
The timing of the women's action arrives as hunger strikes ripple across the immigration detention system. Detainees at the Adelanto facility in California and the nearby Desert View Annex are currently striking. The American Civil Liberties Union reports that the Northwest detention center in Washington state has experienced nine separate strikes since 2026 began, with additional actions launched at facilities in Texas, Pennsylvania, and Michigan since mid-April.
The Geo Group did not respond to requests for comment. The Thursday announcement came one day after President Trump signed a $70 billion spending bill dedicated to immigration enforcement agencies.
Author James Rodriguez: "The government's denial of the strike while women recount conditions they describe as deplorable tells you everything about how seriously ICE takes accountability for what happens behind those walls."
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