Gabriela Soto has made the trek to Delaney Hall, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, dozens of times since her husband was detained there in January. The visits have cost her thousands of dollars and countless hours of stress as she manages heartbroken children and navigates asylum legal proceedings. Yet nearly every other week, guards turn her away at the gate.
The reason, she says, is always the same: someone is dressed wrong. On one visit, guards nearly rejected her 11-month-old child for wearing a onesie. Another time, her four-year-old daughter in leggings was deemed inadmissible. When Soto asked why toddlers' clothing was considered inappropriate, guards told her it was "too provocative."
"How is that provocative if she's only four years old?" Soto asked.
She is one of hundreds of visitors each week attempting to see loved ones at Delaney Hall. More than 10 times, according to her account, either she or her children have been rejected over dress code violations. But Soto's experience is far from unique at a facility that has become known for enforcement practices that activists describe as unusually harsh and deliberately punitive.
Since opening last May, Delaney Hall has rejected families traveling from as far as Texas over leggings, Crocs, heels, dresses, shorts, and other everyday clothing. The stated dress code prohibits form-fitting garments, open-toed shoes, pants with holes, and even T-shirts worn without a bra. It also bans undefined "gang colors."
While the written policy applies only to visitors aged 12 and older, the facility has repeatedly rejected children far younger. Preschool and elementary-aged girls have been turned away for wearing dresses and leggings, according to testimony from visitors and activists who have spent months documenting conditions at the Newark facility.
The pattern has become so severe that volunteers outside the gate now distribute free clothing to rejected visitors on visitation days, creating what one activist described as "a growing pile of Crocs" that accumulates as rejected guests change into compliant outfits before returning inside.
On a single Tuesday in late April, guards rejected more than a dozen visitors. A 16-year-old girl was turned away for a knee-length black dress that matched her school's uniform standards. Another visitor, a woman who had just suffered a miscarriage, was rejected for wearing a postpartum belly wrap. A middle-aged woman arrived drenched from rain and had to borrow shoes from the activist bins outside because her ankle-strap heels violated policy, only to witness guards argue with each other about whether the shoes were actually prohibited.
The footwear rules seem particularly arbitrary. The dress code states only that shoes must be "worn at all times" and "open-toed shoes are prohibited." Yet guards have rejected visitors for wearing Crocs, sandals, heels, and other closed-toe shoes. Five documented rejections on that April Tuesday alone involved footwear.
"They're always changing," said Valeria, a young mother who has been rejected approximately 10 times over the course of visits to see her infant's father. "I could wear these pants for a week, and out of nowhere, they're like, 'You cannot come in this.' It depends on the officer on duty."
Kathy O'Leary, a longtime activist with Pax Christi USA, has compared conditions at Delaney Hall to nearby facilities. The Elizabeth detention center has strict rules requiring skirts to reach the tips of visitors' fingers. Delaney Hall demands skirts reach below the knees. But O'Leary says she has never encountered another ICE detention center that rejects children based on their clothing.
"Delaney Hall is weird," she said.
The inconsistency creates a climate of fear and exhaustion among families already traumatized by detention. Visitors report arriving hours early, practicing extreme caution around guards, and accepting interruptions of their visits in hopes of avoiding rejection. Valeria noted that even when she arrives early, visits are frequently delayed by two to three hours, cutting into time with her detained loved one.
On her daughter's fourth birthday, Gabriela brought her to the facility to celebrate with her father and brought a drawing the child had made. Guards refused to allow it inside. When Gabriela handed them the paper to inspect themselves, guards tore it up in front of her daughter instead of returning it. The child burst into tears.
"She was destroyed," Gabriela said.
Since that incident, Gabriela keeps to herself inside the facility and avoids eye contact with anyone. "I don't even look at anybody," she said.
Activists argue the dress code is being weaponized to separate families and pressure detainees to accept voluntary departure. Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor ICE's regional office in Newark responded to requests for comment. The Geo Group, which operates the facility, referred all inquiries to ICE.
Delaney Hall has drawn national attention in recent weeks for other reasons as well. Mass protests erupted outside the facility following reports of a detainee hunger strike and allegations of unsanitary conditions. The state of New Jersey has sued Geo Group to allow greater access for health inspectors, citing concerns about food storage and tuberculosis infection control practices. DHS disputed the hunger strike claim but acknowledged health inspectors have been granted access.
Meanwhile, volunteers continue handing out free clothing outside the gates on visitation days, allowing visitors rejected for dress code violations to see their loved ones. The practice has become a weekly necessity as enforcement continues without meaningful oversight or consistent standards.
Author James Rodriguez: "These dress codes aren't mistakes or administrative quirks, they're a deliberate tool to make it harder for families to maintain bonds with the detained, and the fact that toddlers are being targeted shows just how cynical the operation has become."
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