Members of Library Workers Union staging actions of solidarity with family members of detainees outside Delaney Hall on Sat., Oct. 25. (Photo credit, Ryan Novosielski for Public Square Amplified)
NEWARK, NJ – On Saturday, October 25th, about 100 labor union members and community activists rallied outside Newark’s Delaney Hall immigration detention facility. They called for an end to the mistreatment of detainees and greater action against ICE.
The rally follows months of protests outside Delaney Hall, a privately operated immigration detention center that has faced extreme backlash due to allegations of poor medical care and living conditions. While the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office opened a civil rights investigation into the facility’s operations and treatment of detainees, federal officials and the facility's operator have disputed the allegations.
Organized by the Labor Eyes on ICE coalition, the demonstration focused on expanding protests beyond the detention center and bringing the movement into Newark neighborhoods directly affected by ICE.
Labor Eyes on ICE is an alliance of labor unions that supports the abolition of ICE, the release of everyone held in immigrant detention, and the closure of immigration detention centers. The coalition has held monthly rallies at Delaney Hall since June of 2025 to support the detainees at the facility, which is owned by private prison company GEO Group.
Photo credit, Ryan Novosielski for Public Square Amplified
Karl Schwartz, vice president of AFSCME Local 228 and a public librarian working in the Ironbound, described the effects of immigration enforcement on neighborhood residents.
“As a public librarian working in the Ironbound, I am appalled by the terror that ICE has brought into the neighborhood. People are staying home, businesses are left empty, and children are kept out of school because so many people fear that they will get kidnapped by masked agents if they step outside,” Schwartz said. “This must stop and unions must stand up for their immigrant neighbors and say that this is unacceptable.”
Sofya Aptekar, a CUNY professor of urban studies and a member of the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) at CUNY, said she participates because of the ICE arrests affecting her neighbors in NYC.
“I’m showing up to Labor Eyes on ICE because my New York neighbors get abducted by ICE and brought to Delaney Hall and as a NYC union member, it is my responsibility to organize as a worker to collectively disrupt this racist and violent immigration system from which only the capitalist overlords benefit,” Aptekar said.
Representatives from Newark Library Workers (AFSCE), the Union of Rutgers Administrators, Health Professionals and Allies Employees Local 5094, PSC CUNY, Teamsters, the National Action Coalition, and By Any Means Necessary also addressed attendees. Following the speeches, protesters held an hour-long picket outside the facility, with chants led by members of NJIT’s United Council of Academics.
Attendees were also urged to support the Ironbound Families March, which is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 7th, at 11am. The march will start at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood. The coalition is also seeking volunteers for a rapid response network to provide assistance, resources, and witnesses when ICE targets community members.
Labor Eyes on ICE emphasized labor unions’ responsibility to support workers across occupations, regardless of national/ ethnic backgrounds. The organizers argued that unions have both a duty and the collective power to challenge what they described as fascism and the exploitation of detained immigrants, some of whom perform work for little pay.
Additionally, organizers also said they want to draw greater attention to Delaney Hall. Located in an industrial area with heavy truck traffic and unpleasant odors, they hope to expand demonstrations into residential neighborhoods and other detention facilities, including the Elizabeth detention center and Essex County Correctional Facility.
Another demonstration is planned for Friday, Oct. 30th, at 2pm. It will take place outside of Delaney Hall as part of an International Day of Action organized by the National Action Coalition. The initiative originated with dockworker unions in Europe and the Mediterranean region, with additional actions planned in New Orleans and Manhattan.
More information about the Oct. 30th action is located on the National Action Coalition’s events page.