It begins with a missed meal - and ends in an uprising whose full extent even the authorities do not yet fully grasp. Four detainees have escaped from the federal immigration detention center Delaney Hall in the state of New Jersey. What unfolded in Newark from Thursday night to Friday is more than a story of escape - it is a charged moment that, like under a magnifying glass, shows what happens when state repression, poor conditions, and political escalation collide.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed Friday evening that four people escaped from the center - amid ongoing unrest, growing confusion, and a remarkable silence about the exact circumstances. One thing is certain: they were not lone actors. The escape happened in the shadow of growing protests outside the facility, while the mood among the roughly 1,000 detainees - all undocumented in the U.S. - had apparently been deteriorating for days. According to reports, staff repeatedly refused to serve hot meals, left people hungry, or handed out food at impossible hours - breakfast at 6 a.m., dinner at 10 p.m., no lunch at all.
A protest escalated. Outside the gate, demonstrators organized by groups like the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice tried to break through barricades. Inside, tensions boiled over. A lawyer reported that an outer perimeter wall - poorly constructed - gave way when angry detainees stormed it. "It was about the food," said attorney Mustafa Cetin. "When it didn’t come, it turned violent." Four individuals escaped. Their names, their status, their fate - still unknown.
Amy Torres, director of the New Jersey Alliance, spoke of tear gas deployments, clashes with police, and injured demonstrators. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a Democrat and fierce critic of President Trump’s immigration policies, had strong words as well: "We must put an end to this chaos and cannot allow this operation to continue unchecked." On May 9, Baraka himself had been arrested at the site - for alleged trespassing. The charge was later dropped. But other political figures, like Congresswoman LaMonica McIver, also came under federal scrutiny: she is accused of assaulting federal officers. She denies the charges and insists she was fulfilling her duty as an elected official overseeing federal agencies.
What is brewing at Delaney Hall is no longer a local event. The center was expanded this year under the leadership of the private company GEO Group - as part of President Donald Trump’s renewed deportation crackdown. More than 53,000 people are currently in ICE custody - nearly 12,000 over the officially budgeted capacity. Stephen Miller, Trump’s chief strategist on immigration, recently called for at least 3,000 arrests per day - five times the previous daily average
A fragile system is reaching its limits - humanly, morally, institutionally. The Newark uprising is only a symptom. But when hunger leads to escape, protest escalates, and democratic oversight results in arrest, something breaks open that cannot be contained by high-security fences. Then a drama begins that does not end with the escape - but with the question: Who is actually protecting the people locked up in there?
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