Air conditioning fails at Delaney Hall as heat wave leaves detainees struggling to breathe

Advocates say temperatures became unbearable inside one housing unit as the region’s heat wave intensified.

Detainees at Newark’s Delaney Hall have told activists that the air conditioning has failed in part of the controversial immigrant detention center, leaving some people sleeping naked and struggling to breathe as a scorching heat wave descends on the region.

Sally Pillay, an advocate with Eyes on ICE who regularly speaks to detainees and their families, told The Jersey Vindicator Thursday afternoon that some of the roughly 150 detainees housed in Unit 4 began calling their families early July 2 to complain that they couldn’t breathe or sleep because of the high temperatures.

It’s not the first time this has happened. Pillay said the cooling system had been on the fritz all week before finally failing sometime Wednesday.

But conditions have gotten far more dangerous as air temperatures soared past 100 degrees.

“There’s no ventilation or circulation,” she said of the unit. “It’s extremely hot, and it’s humid … it’s unbearable. They’re sleeping with no clothes on, and they feel fatigued.”

Activists said they reached out to the city of Newark but did not hear back.

A spokesperson for GEO Group, the private prison firm that runs the 1,000-bed facility on Doremus Avenue, did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

But a spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told The Jersey Vindicator in an email Thursday evening, July 2, that the agency has added portable air conditioning units and access to ice water while it oversees repairs. Activists disputed the claims Thursday night and said that AC units and ice water have not been provided yet.

“The rapid response to this incident demonstrates ICE’s commitment to uphold the highest detention standards, following all applicable health and safety guidelines,” the spokesperson wrote.

Meanwhile, members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation have also gotten involved.

In a social media post, U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez, a Union County Democrat who has visited Delaney Hall many times, wrote that his office will “continue to press ICE to ensure that this matter is addressed with the urgency required during this extreme heat wave and will do so until air conditioning is restored.”

Pillay said the situation has been worsened by poor drinking water, which detainees have long said tastes metallic and “off.” It seems to have gotten even worse lately, she added.

“Apparently, it’s discolored, yellow, and dirty, like it’s not being filtered,” she said. “And it tastes very bad.”

That means detainees enduring misery-inducing heat must also choke down water they otherwise wouldn’t drink.

Kathy O’Leary, the coordinator of Pax Christi New Jersey, said the imposing fortress near the mouth of Newark Bay has had HVAC issues almost since it opened in May 2025.

Several dorms remained frigid over the winter, she said, but the heat blasted through another unit to the point where “everybody was roasting.”

But the summer heat has taken it to another level.

“This is not a new thing,” Pillay added. “Definitely not.”

The air conditioning failure is another in a long list of complaints voiced by detainees, their families, and immigration activists about Delaney Hall, which they say forces undocumented immigrants swept up in the Trump administration’s immigration raids to live in squalor.

About 300 detainees launched a hunger and labor strike in May to draw attention to their plight and convince Gov. Mikie Sherrill to meet with them. The strike drew national attention, and protesters flocked to the area for weeks of demonstrations that often turned violent.

When asked why she believes GEO Group didn’t fix the air conditioning earlier, Pillay said bluntly that it’s a for-profit entity that “always wants to cut corners.”

“They wait for an issue to get so big that we have to complain,” she said. “They want to house people in this facility, but they cannot fix the infrastructure. We have seen so many issues in this facility.”

“It’s very sad, it’s shocking, and it’s appalling that this is the way we’re treating human beings,” she continued. “And GEO, which is making millions and millions of dollars, doesn’t care about the human beings being warehoused in this facility.”