Federal inspectors who answer to Immigration and Customs Enforcement itself have documented 22 deficiencies against national detention standards at Delaney Hall, the for-profit immigration detention centre in Newark, New Jersey, that holds about 800 immigrants at any given time — almost twice the 12 deficiencies recorded at the facility in 2025.
Source: Scripps News / TMJ4 ICE Inc. investigation
The findings come from a September visit by ICE's Office of Detention Oversight (ODO), the agency's own inspection arm. The report, published by ICE and reported on November 12 by the Scripps News ICE Inc. investigation, lists failures in medical care, medication, health screening, sexual-abuse reporting and basic sanitation at the centre on Doremus Avenue in Newark's East Ward, within sight of the New Jersey Turnpike and a short drive from the large South Asian communities of Edison, Iselin and Jersey City.
What the inspectors found
According to the inspection document, the deficiencies include improper medical care, failure to provide detainees with prescribed medication, and delays in the initial physical and mental-health screenings that new arrivals are supposed to receive on intake. The document also lists improper reporting of sexual abuse and assault investigations, and failures to maintain cleanliness and sanitation inside the facility.
The GEO Group, the private prison company that operates Delaney Hall under a federal contract, did not immediately respond to inquiries about the inspection report. The report itself says the company is taking action to try to fix some of the problems the inspectors identified — but for the volunteers who stand outside the gates helping families, the September findings match what they say they have been hearing from inside for months.
"Things have not gotten better"
"Things have not gotten better," said Kathy O'Leary, one of the volunteers posted outside Delaney Hall who helps families with loved ones detained inside. O'Leary told Scripps News she continues to hear from detainees who cannot obtain timely medical care: "They are going weeks before their sick calls are being responded to. We had a man in here with a broken leg that took him a month to get the operation he needed." A former detainee told Scripps in December that people inside would request a medical appointment and be seen about 20 days later, "when they're already cured, the entire illness had already passed."
Two deaths in custody hang over the report
The inspection lands on a facility where two detainees have died in custody. Edwin Jovanny Lopez Cornejo died in August after the Department of Homeland Security said he suffered a medical emergency inside Delaney Hall; his mother questioned whether he had received the medication he needed for diabetes, high blood pressure and seizures. Jean Wilson Brutus died following another reported medical emergency one day after arriving at Delaney Hall in December 2025. Neither death is attributed to the facility in the inspection report, and Awaaz Punjab is reporting the families' and officials' accounts as stated, not as findings — but the deaths are the background against which families across New Jersey, including Punjabi and other South Asian families with relatives in immigration proceedings, are reading the inspectors' list of medication and screening failures.
Background: a reopened warehouse of detention in Newark
Delaney Hall reopened as an ICE facility after the GEO Group won a long-term federal contract in February 2025, becoming one of the largest immigration detention centres in the New York–New Jersey region. For a year, the Scripps News ICE Inc. investigation has documented reports of troubling conditions inside, including frequent 911 calls for sick and injured people, complaints of delayed medical care and difficulty getting medication, and claims of unsanitary conditions. New Jersey's attorney general has separately sued over conditions at the facility, allegations the company and federal officials dispute; that litigation is ongoing, and the claims in it remain allegations until a court decides.
New Jersey is home to one of the largest Punjabi and Indian diaspora populations in the United States. When an inspection by ICE's own oversight office finds missed medicines and delayed screenings at the region's main detention centre, it is directly relevant to any family in Edison, Jersey City or the wider tri-state area with a relative in removal proceedings.
What is solid
- ICE's Office of Detention Oversight recorded 22 deficiencies at Delaney Hall after a September inspection, up from 12 in 2025 (ICE report via Scripps News).
- The flagged areas include medical care, prescribed medication, intake health screenings, sexual-abuse reporting and sanitation.
- The GEO Group operates the facility under federal contract and about 800 people are held there at a time.
- Two detainees have died in custody at Delaney Hall, in August 2026 and December 2025, both reported as medical emergencies by DHS.
What is only claimed
- Whether conditions at Delaney Hall are systemic: New Jersey's attorney general has sued alleging poor conditions; GEO Group and federal officials dispute those characterisations.
- GEO Group had not responded to Scripps News about the new inspection at the time of publication; the report says corrective steps are under way on some items.
What happens next
The GEO Group is expected to answer the inspection with corrective action on the cited items, and ICE's oversight office can re-inspect. The state attorney general's lawsuit over conditions continues in parallel, and advocates who gather outside the facility say they will keep pressing for independent medical oversight. Awaaz Punjab will update this story when GEO Group or ICE responds on the record.