The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced last week they would reopen an immigration detention facility in Newark this spring. The announcement came after the agency reached an agreement with a private global lender for $1 billion.
ICE will use the Delaney Hall facility in Newark, which contains 1,000-beds, for federal immigration processing.
Delaney Hall had previously operated as a detention center until 2017. Its location— a short drive from Manhattan and close to Newark Liberty International Airport— will dramatically increase the amount of detention space available for ICE in the New York area.
"The location near an international airport streamlines logistics, and helps facilitate the timely processing of individuals in our custody as we pursue President Trump's mandate to arrest, detain and remove illegal aliens from our communities," acting ICE Caleb Vitello said in a statement.
Vitello was reassigned to oversee all field and enforcement operations last Friday, including the agency's new 15-year fixed-price contract with the GEO Group, which manages private prisons nationwide.
"Our company-owned Delaney Hall Facility will play an important role in providing needed detention bedspace and support services for ICE in the Northeast. We are continuing to prepare for what we believe is an unprecedented opportunity to help the federal government meet its expanded immigration enforcement priorities," George C. Zoley, executive chairman of GEO said of the new deal.
The company sued New Jersey officials in April of 2024 over state law that prevents private and public companies from accepting contracts with ICE to detain immigrants. A federal judge ruled that the law is unconstitutional as it pertains to private companies in 2023. However, the decision is still awaiting review from a federal appellate court.
"We are taking several important steps to meet this opportunity, including making a previously announced $70 million investment in capital expenditures to strengthen our capabilities to deliver expanded detention capacity, secure transportation, and electronic monitoring and related services to ICE and the federal government," Zoley said.
Following the announcement, immigration advocates and elected officials came forward to show their opposition for the move, criticizing the message the administration is sending to the city and sounding alarms about the company running the facility.
"This 15-year, $1 billion contract, announced the very same day that GEO Group released its fourth-quarter earnings, is not about making New Jerseyans safer or fixing our broken immigration system. Instead, it demonstrates this administration's driving motive to enrich its favored corporations while wasting taxpayer dollars," Democratic Sen. Cory Booker said.
The ACLU of New Jersey also released a statement, saying "this massive increase in detention capacity places the public in further danger of the Trump administration's unconstitutional, racist, and xenophobic mass detention and deportation agenda."
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