U.S. Sen. Andy Kim said he was pepper-sprayed during a confrontation outside Delaney Hall, an ICE detention facility in Newark, after he tried to de-escalate between armed federal officers and protesters. The incident came the same day Gov. Mikie Sherrill said
He had just finished visiting Delaney Hall when Sen. Andy Kim says the situation turned from tense to chaotic.
Kim, a Democrat from New Jersey, said he was pepper-sprayed outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Newark on Monday afternoon. after returning from the facility where he met with detainees supporting a hunger strike protest. He described the moment as a confrontation he tried to stop before it escalated.
The incident landed the same day Gov. Mikie Sherrill said she attempted to access Delaney Hall but was denied entry.
Kim said he spoke after the pepper-spray incident by phone Monday evening to discuss what he saw. telling listeners he experienced “chaos” at the facility and what he called the “lawlessness of the Trump administration.” He said detainees were mounting the hunger strike in response to conditions that include alleged lack of air conditioning and fresh food. and that the protest began late last week.
To get inside the detention center, Kim said he took unusual steps, including calling Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin for intervention.
When Kim exited, he said he faced a “standoff” outside. He described armed federal officers bringing out an armored vehicle and trying to create a barricade around Delaney Hall’s fencing and entrances to keep demonstrators away.
Kim said protesters “kind of lined up in front of them,” and that he tried to move between the ICE officers and the crowd to lower the temperature. He said ICE officials told him they were planning to push through the crowd with their vehicle and wanted to get vehicles out of the area.
“I tried to arrange a situation where people would not get hurt, where there wouldn’t be a confrontation. Unfortunately, ICE just continued on,” Kim said.
Kim said he immediately saw people being tackled and brought to the ground, and that ICE began pushing through with their vehicles. He said the effort to de-escalate continued even as officers used pepper balls and pepper spray.
Kim said he ran up again. trying to put himself between agents and the crowd when agents “started shooting at us with pepper balls and using pepper spray.” He said his eyes and throat were burning afterward. and added that he tried “to do whatever I could” while standing in the middle to keep people safe.
He also said several of his congressional colleagues had been at Delaney Hall earlier in the day and had joined him on previous visits, but they were not present when the confrontation occurred.
For Kim, the incident was not just personal injury or political drama. He described the confrontation and the surrounding conditions as connected to broader disputes over detention oversight and accountability.
He said the “chaos manifesting in the streets of New Jersey” reflected what he described as the “lawlessness and unaccountability perpetuated by the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress.” He tied that claim to legislation currently before Congress that would provide “tens of billions of dollars” to fund ICE while the war in Iran continues and affordability issues persist throughout the country.
Inside Delaney Hall, Kim said detainees he met described conditions he called “inhumane.” He referenced an 18-year-old girl who wanted to return to her family and graduate from high school, and a pregnant woman he said was not getting the care she needs.
The hunger strike follows detainees’ complaints about medical neglect, lack of air conditioning, lack of food, and rotten and spoiled meals.
In addition, on Saturday, May 23, immigrant advocates alleged that some detainees involved in the strike were targeted for retaliation. They said one was threatened with solitary confinement, and that at least two others had their visit time cut to just 5 or 10 minutes.
Advocates and detainees have also called for the release of individuals who are elderly, young, seriously ill, or injured.
Gov. Sherrill’s position during the same stretch of events added another layer to the public dispute. She denied access to Delaney Hall. saying in a May 25 statement that her request for access was formally denied that morning and that it raised “serious questions about what they are trying to hide from public view.”.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, disputed the framing. Christine Cuttita, a spokesperson for the department, called Sherrill’s visit “nothing more than a political stunt on Memorial Day” and said visitation was suspended due to riots outside the facility.
Delaney Hall itself is new and central to the controversy over detention capacity. The facility opened on May 1, 2025, as a 1,000-bed private immigration detention center as part of the Trump administration’s push to expand detention capacity.
New Jersey members of Congress have been conducting oversight visits, including to assess the alleged conditions.
Other legal proceedings around the facility have also come into view. Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver faces federal assault charges for allegedly hitting a federal law enforcement agent during a scuffle outside the facility last spring.
Kim said the larger fight should not be consumed by the incident outside. After the confrontation, he emphasized that the point is not his own condition but what he described as a pattern of how detainees are being treated.
“We have to make sure we stay focused on those detainees that deserve more and certainly don’t deserve to be treated the way that they are, to the families that are just trying to look out for their loved ones and trying to push forward,” Kim said.
The question hanging over Monday’s pepper-spray incident is how much access the public and elected officials are being allowed as tensions rise outside Delaney Hall—and what happens to detainees when protests inside meet pressure and retaliation allegations described by advocates.
Andy Kim pepper spray ICE detention Delaney Hall Newark Mikie Sherrill hunger strike Markwayne Mullin Department of Homeland Security immigration detention federal assault charges LaMonica McIver protest outside ICE