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Rev. Dr. Robin Tanner braced herself as Newark, New Jersey, police officers and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, some with their faces covered by masks or bandanas, approached.
Behind Tanner—who serves at the Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Summit, New Jersey—and the fifty or so other clergy members with her at the protest on May 12, 2025, loomed the hulking gray form of Delaney Hall, surrounded by fences topped with barbed wire. Delaney Hall is a for-profit ICE detention center run by the GEO Group, one of the two largest private prison operators in the United States, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
Multifaith presence offers religious response to immigration crackdown actions.
The clergy, among them eight UU ministers, blocked the flow of traffic in and out of Delaney Hall, attempting to disrupt operations as much as possible. The group sang hymns and protest songs together, including the civil rights anthem, “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around.”
Demonstrators who spoke with UU World described the conditions within Delaney Hall as not just immoral but illegal, saying that ICE has denied family visitation rights, prevented state officials and members of Congress from inspecting the facility, and not released the names of people being detained.
When the law enforcement officers and federal agents drew closer, Tanner recalls, they reached down to separate her from the others who were sitting in a row, arms linked in solidarity. Tanner and the rest of the clergy were pulled apart from each other and forcibly taken from the gate, she said.
While no clergy were arrested at the event, two activists were, according to The Jersey Vindicator. Protesters described the scene as frightening and stressful, and they feared they would be arrested as police rushed and surrounded them.
In the fight against the Trump administration’s agenda of mass incarceration and deportation of migrants, Delaney Hall is one of many flashpoints. These kinds of demonstrations joined or led by leaders from different religions are part of a broader faith-based resistance movement challenging ICE’s tactics. In some cases, as in Newark, the actions are met with force.
Despite the risks, Tanner said she felt called by her religious beliefs to oppose the detention center and its reported practices.
“This just can’t happen under our watch,” said Tanner. “They’re creating these detention facilities that are like concentration camps where basic human rights are being denied.”
When reached for comment by email, GEO Group referred UU World to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE. A DHS public affairs officer responded to UU World’s questions about the May 12 protest—which happened about five months before the magazine emailed for comment—and related issues, with a statement asserting that ICE “will not comment on articles or events that are more than six months old.”
“Allegations and politically driven claims about ICE’s Delaney Hall Detention Facility made six months ago or more do not accurately represent the current conditions at the facility,” according to the DHS statement. “ICE never purposely puts others in danger.”
Though the agency made no mention of the clergy members, it argued that “public safety is of the upmost concern and extreme individuals causing chaos, ensuing violence or obstructing operations outside of our gates will be thwarted.”
Newark Police Department emailed UU World a statement asserting that during the May protests, it provided “public safety services and crowd support” and dealt with mostly traffic incidents.
“Police response was aimed at ensuring the safety of protesters outside the facility, which is located along a high-traffic thoroughfare,” according to the police statement.
Protestors at Delaney Hall in front of a gate to the facility, attempting to block traffic and obstruct operations as much as possible.
Tanner and other Unitarian Universalists expressed outrage at the federal government’s actions and described their resistance to ICE as a matter of moral, spiritual, and legal urgency.
“Our religion called us to this place, to expose this evil,” said Tanner.
Prophetic Witness at a Dangerous Scene
Some UUs at Delaney Hall described the protest as an act of necessary prophetic witness against ICE.
Rev. Anya Sammler-Michael, who serves at the UU Congregation of Montclair, New Jersey, said her UU faith drives her to “struggle against” the treatment of immigrants at the facility.
“We are witnessing incredible acts of hate being perpetuated by our government, across our nation and to the most vulnerable among us,” Sammler-Michael said.
Erol Delos Santos, a graduate of Union Theological Seminary who is preparing for the UU ministry, said he was inspired to protest ICE after witnessing the agency’s wave of arrests and deportations in other parts of the country, such as the arrest of legal U.S. resident and pro-Palestine activist Mahmoud Khalil.
“I felt like I had to do something,” said Delos Santos, who is a first-generation Filipino immigrant. “All it would take for ICE to arrest me is for me to not have ID with me that day.”
At the Delaney Hall protest in May, Delos Santos said, ICE agents trying to break the line of protesters grabbed and pushed him aside.
Delos Santos said he felt a moral and spiritual imperative to protest ICE, even at the risk of arrest and physical harm.
“Immigrants are the driving force of this country,” he said. “And it’s not fair to be able to lock people up for no reason.
A Pattern of Violence Against Protesters—and Members of Congress
Three days before the clergy protest, on May 9, another confrontation with ICE officers at Delaney Hall led to the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.
Baraka and three members of Congress, including New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver, attempted to tour and inspect the detention center and were told to leave, according to NBC News.
Detainees at Delaney Hall have reported facing inhumane conditions, such as hunger, according to media reports.
“The situation devolved when ICE ran out of the gate and roughed up the congressional delegation,” said Tanner, who was there during Baraka’s arrest.
ICE agents were “being incredibly rough,” pushing and shoving the congressional delegation, and Tanner said she witnessed “an arm jab to the shoulder of one of the congresspeople.”
Federal prosecutors accused Baraka of trespassing. He was released that same evening. The charges against him were later dropped.
As of October 16, McIver faces charges of felony assault and having resisted and impeded law enforcement officers, which she says are baseless and politically motivated, reports the Associated Press. She has pleaded not guilty and faces up to seventeen years in prison if convicted.
Charlene Walker, executive director of Faith in New Jersey, a nonprofit that helped to coordinate the interfaith clergy protest, was present at both events. Walker, who attends the Beacon UU congregation, said police at the May 12 demonstration dragged her away from Delaney Hall by her leg.
“I feel like I should be more traumatized than I am,” said Walker. “But there’s something about standing in righteousness, in my faith, and saying that we can’t tolerate our neighbors being disappeared that I think has given all of us some level of strength.”
Regarding Baraka’s arrest, Walker said that ICE was intentional and aggressive in targeting the mayor and congresspeople.
“If they will put their hands on members of congress,” said Walker, “we have to ask the question: What are they doing behind closed doors where nobody can see?”
‘There is Something that Everyone, Every Single Person, Can Do’
Following the protest, Walker said the situation remains morally and legally dire.
Some lawyers have still been denied visits at times per a NJ.com report, and detainees reportedly have faced inhumane conditions such as hunger. In June, four detainees escaped Delaney Hall amid unrest caused by a lack of meals, according to ABC News.
Sammler-Michael emphasized the value of nonviolent resistance and partnership with other groups and faith communities.
“We should not try and do the work alone,” she said, “and I would say that there is something that everyone, every single person, can do.”
Prophetic witness at Delaney Hall has continued since May. Local congregations and nonprofits regularly lead vigils.
Outside the barbed wire fence of Delaney Hall, people of diverse faiths and religious backgrounds remain present: praying, singing, and fighting for the rights of those locked inside.