'They can go back to their country,' DHS Secretary Mullin says as tensions rise outside Newark ICE detention facility

Source: ABC News

May 27, 2026, 3:52 PM


Tensions continue to rise outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, as activists and Democratic leaders clash with the federal government over conditions there.

A hunger strike inside the 1,000-bed Delaney Hall detention center has been ongoing since Friday after detainees alleged they are not being well fed or provided sanitary living conditions, according to activists. "They're given rotten frozen food, or in the case of last week, they found live worms in their food. We're also hearing of people being denied toilet paper," activist Catalina Adorno told New York ABC affiliate WABC on Tuesday.

Several protests have taken place outside the facility since the strike began, and ICE agents were filmed using pepper spray and batons against protesters who have gotten close to them, according to WABC. The Department of Homeland Security has denied the allegations of a hunger strike and inhumane conditions inside Delaney Hall, which is currently holding 300 detainees.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin claimed during a Cabinet meeting Wednesday that there were "only a handful of individuals that was refusing to eat" because they allegedly wanted their "ethnic right food.". "Well, they can go back to their country and get whatever food they want," he told reporters. "The fact is, we're giving them the calories they want. This isn't Holiday Inn."

Read more: https://abcnews.com/US/back-country-dhs-secretary-mullin-tensions-rise-newark/story?id=133343209