Photos by John Garry, words by Anastasia Bez

Delaney Hall is an immigrant detention facility managed by GEO Group for U.S. Immigration and Customs enforcement, located in a very industrial part of the Ironbound in Newark. There have been significant ongoing concern and protests over conditions at the facility. In the last nine months, three detainees have died (two of them in the last month): Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, Jean Wilson Brutus, and Jose Chajon-Raxon. ICE has changed how they report detainee deaths and says that Mr. Chajon-Raxon was “released from ICE custody” and then died.

John Garry has been documenting protests outside of Delaney Hall starting in 2025 including the 2026 Memorial Day weekend protests in support of detainees participating in a hunger and labor strike. The New Jersey State Police were called, a curfew was set, and tensions continued to rise. New Jersey State Police operated in concert with Newark Police Department, Essex County Sheriff’s Office, and with ICE and the private contractors in charge of the facility. In the process of documenting the protest, John Garry and other press were teargassed and had flash grenades deployed against them. Subsequently, law enforcement banned protesters, press, and other observers from wearing protective gear including helmets, respirators, and masks. To safely photograph the scenes, our photographer wore a helmet. When the helmets were banned by law enforcement justified by ‘public safety,’ he paused on visiting Delaney Hall for personal safety reasons.

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John Garry is a news photographer and production assistant from Astoria, Queens. You can see his work in Inside Edition, The Economist, Commonweal Magazine and on his Instagram @muteswanastoria.

Anastasia Bez is a Newark resident and contributing writer and editor for The Newarker.