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The basics:

• Kim says Delaney Hall protest risked ‘mass violence’
• Senator alleges poor conditions inside ICE facility
• Clashes outside detention center led to pepper spray incident
• The GEO Group and ICE policies face renewed scrutiny

U.S. Sen. Andy Kim from New Jersey said he feared “mass violence” during the chaotic May 25 confrontation outside Newark‘s Delaney Hall immigration detention center. The Democratic senator described scenes that reminded him of unrest he witnessed overseas during his diplomatic career.

In a sit-down interview this week conducted by NJBIZ during a previously scheduled Monmouth County business tour, Kim detailed the escalating standoff outside the ICE facility, the conditions he said he witnessed inside and his efforts to de-escalate tensions before federal agents moved into protesters.

“I saw chaos inside and outside of the ICE detention center,” Kim told NJBIZ outside of Coffee Corral in Red Bank May 27, expanding on comments he first made publicly after the confrontation, which resulted in him being pepper sprayed. The senator said he was feeling better since the incident.

Getting into Delaney Hall

Kim said he initially traveled to Delaney Hall to speak directly with detainees and was denied entry, despite having received prior approval from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“I was there to try to talk to the detainees,” said Kim. “I was actually denied entry at first, which I thought was absurd, because I have lawful jurisdiction over that facility, but also I actually got approval from ICE ahead of time, and they still denied me entry.”

Kim said he ultimately gained access only after personally contacting Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin. After leaving Delaney Hall, Kim said he encountered a tense and volatile standoff between demonstrators and heavily armed federal agents outside the facility.

“You had several dozen armed ICE agents lined up with an armored vehicle, and then you had this crowd lined up a couple feet away,” said Kim. “This is something I just immediately was concerned was going to devolve into just mass violence.”

Seeking diplomatic de-escalation

Kim said his background as a diplomat shaped his response as tensions escalated.

“I’m a diplomat by trade,” Kim said. “So, I was trying to see if there was a way to de-escalate the situation.”

He said that the scene reminded him of situations he’d see in his work as a diplomat in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. “You see that stuff in other countries – you never want to ever see that here in America,” said Kim.

The senator said he attempted to mediate between protesters and ICE officials, warning agents against forcing vehicles through the crowd.

You see that stuff in other countries – you never want to ever see that here in America.
—U.S. Sen. Andy Kim

“I told them, ‘You cannot just plow through the crowd. Let me see if I can find some arrangement here,’” Kim said. “But then at some point they just told me, ‘We’re going to move.’”

Kim said the situation rapidly deteriorated after federal vehicles advanced. “And immediately exactly what I feared, they just started tackling people to the streets, pushing them back, and then tried to push the vehicle through, and it was just chaos,” he explained.

Kim said he then physically stepped between protesters and ICE agents in an effort to prevent direct confrontation. “I wanted to keep as much physical separation [as possible], because I felt that if there was hand-to-hand confrontation, that you could see real injuries,” he continued. “We saw people die in Minnesota from this.”

The ‘potential for violence’

Kim said agents then fired pepper balls and spray into the crowd, including near him.

“That’s when I got the irritation in my eyes, and my throat just felt like it was burning,” Kim said. “But thankfully, no serious injuries, no arrests. But that potential for violence still exists right now. That’s where we’re at right now – I’m still worried about it.

“I’m still working to try to figure out how we can address these concerns for the detainees to the standoff outside.”

Kim said he has not yet followed up with Mullin, a former Senate colleague. “I want to kind of gather my thoughts,” he said.

Kim repeatedly stressed that his focus remains on conditions inside Delaney Hall and the treatment of detainees.

“This isn’t about me,” he said. “This is about detainees and their families – trying to be able to make sure that they don’t live in inhumane circumstances and can have their time in court. This is about my constituents and people who are experiencing violence outside and the potential there. I’m trying to think through, what is the proposal that I want to put forward here that can be an off-ramp?

“I do not necessarily think that ICE is going to accept that, as I saw how they treated my de-escalation efforts the other day. But I have to try,” Kim stressed. “I got to do something to try to prevent this from continuing to happen.”

Inside look

The senator described meeting detainees inside Delaney Hall with severe medical concerns and others who he said appeared caught in prolonged detention despite not fitting the administration’s stated focus on violent offenders.

Among them, Kim said, was “a pregnant woman who says she’s not getting the medical care that she needs,” as well as a man with Stage 3 lung cancer. “He’s just asking me, like, ‘Am I gonna die here?’” Kim said. “Can I at least see my family. He was like, ‘I want to leave the country, be with my family, because I’ve got maybe a few months left.’ But they won’t even let him leave.”

Kim also described meeting an 18-year-old high school senior detained alone while her mother protested outside the facility.

“She told me she just wants to go to the prom and graduate this year,” said Kim. “Can you imagine being the mom of an 18-year-old high school senior who’s in a detention facility by herself without the rest of the family. And God bless her, she was actually the one that was translating between English and Spanish for many of the others – she was helping people.

She told me she just wants to go to the prom and graduate this year.
—U.S. Sen. Andy Kim

“How strong of an 18-year-old is that? And that’s what I told her mom – you raised a very strong daughter who’s trying to help people.”

Kim further alleged poor food quality and unsafe conditions inside the facility.

“Someone handed me a carton of milk that was like congealed solid. It was just disgusting,” he said. “It was unbearably hot in some parts – and it wasn’t even a particularly hot day here.”

Profits over people?

The senator sharply criticized private prison operator The GEO Group, which operates Delaney Hall under contract with ICE.

“This company, GEO Group, got a billion-dollar contract from ICE to run Delaney Hall,” said Kim. “They have one full-time doctor for 800 detainees. They could hire more doctors. That would just be less profit for GEO Group. They could hire and get better food. But that’s just again less profit. That’s what I want people to see, is that that’s what’s happening.

“Meanwhile down in Congress, the Republicans are trying to push tens of billions of dollars of more money for ICE without any accountability, without any provision saying you need to have better medical care there, or you need to increase the quality of the food and the living conditions,” said Kim. “There’s none of that. So, it’s just going to be more of the same.”

Kim also argued detainees are not receiving meaningful access to immigration hearings.

“The detainees were very clear to me, it’s not just about the conditions – they are not getting their day in court, which is something that is afforded to everyone in this country, regardless of citizenship, as per our Constitution,” said Kim. “They showed me a piece of paper that showed that one judge has 74 cases before them in one day,” Kim said, noting that’s about five minutes per case. “And that’s if everything went perfectly on time, one after the other.

“It’s a farce.”

Kim added, “These are the things that they’re demanding. They’re very reasonable demands. And the fact that ICE continues to tell me, ‘no,’ is why we’re in this situation right now.”

Restricted access, limited insights

The comments come amid escalating political and legal battles surrounding Delaney Hall. Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who was not allowed entry, on Tuesday renewed calls to shut down the facility. She called Delaney Hall “a failure” following reports of poor conditions and the confrontation involving Kim.

Governor’s response

Gov. Mikie Sherrill renewed calls this week to shut down the Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark. Read more here.

On Thursday, Sherrill said the New Jersey Department of Health was denied full access to Delaney Hall to conduct a health inspection, allowing access to a limited part of the facility.

“We will review and share the Department’s findings from the limited portion it was allowed to inspect, and we will continue to pursue all appropriate avenues for demanding transparency and ensuring humane conditions for the individuals being held at the facility,” the governor said in a May 28 statement. “As I’ve said repeatedly, refusing to provide full access raises serious questions about what ICE is trying to hide from public view.

“New Jersey believes in the rule of law, will uphold the Constitution, and Delaney Hall should be closed down,” Sherrill reiterated. “I am calling for ICE to immediately de-escalate the situation as I continue working to keep New Jersey residents safe.”

Wrong place, wrong time

Secretary Mullin discussed the Delaney Hall situation and Kim getting pepper sprayed during a May 27 Cabinet meeting. He said that the senator probably shouldn’t have been there.

“It’s unfortunate that @SenatorAndyKim (who I’ve had a good relationship with) is spreading this FALSE narrative and adding fuel to the fire for no other reason than political theater,” Mullin wrote on social media May 27. “This isn’t a Holiday Inn. Illegal aliens are at this detention facility because they broke our nation’s laws. ICE has arrested brutal criminals in New Jersey, including murders, rapists, sex offenders, child predators, and drug traffickers. They are provided medical treatment, a clean place to sleep, and 3 meals a day plus commissary.

“Contrary to what liberal politicians and the leftist media want you to think: @DHSgov does NOT make the laws that govern the United States. Our officers are simply enforcing the laws passed by Congress. If these sanctuary politicians in Congress don’t like our nation’s laws, they have the ability to change them.”

Watch this space

Kim shot back at Mullin on social media with a video that same day, following the interview with NJBIZ.

I want you to hear straight from me about what happened at Delaney Hall on Monday and what I saw inside the facility.

ICE out of control. GEO Group profiting off of human misery. People living in inhumane conditions.

Let me walk you through it. pic.twitter.com/jW4DArD75q

— Senator Andy Kim (@SenatorAndyKim) May 28, 2026

“Secretary Markwayne Mullin in a cabinet meeting today said that I was complaining about being hit by a pepper ball spray at Delaney Hall,” said Kim on social media. “And he said that I shouldn’t be there. I just want to say this was never about me. I was willing to take that risk. I’m not complaining about the pepper ball spray.

“For me, I’m complaining about what the treatment is to my constituents, to Americans, and to civilians that were in harm’s way. What I’m complaining about are these detainees and their families talking about the inhumane treatment that they’re going through on our soil using taxpayer dollars – that’s now funded towards GEO Group,” Kim continued. “And they’re getting billions of dollars, and ICE is getting billions of dollars without holding anybody accountable for the lawlessness.

“So, again, this isn’t about me. I was willing to take on that risk. I’d do it all over again – anything that I can to keep my constituents and to keep people safe.”

The standoff at Delaney Hall continues with a number of clashes reported between protestors and ICE agents Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon.

Please stay with NJBIZ for the very latest on this developing story – and for more on the visit to Monmouth County businesses that NJBIZ joined Sen. Kim for.