New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport has filed an expanded lawsuit against The GEO Group, Inc., the private company operating the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in Newark, intensifying scrutiny over conditions inside the facility.

The lawsuit seeks a court order granting the New Jersey Department of Health full access to Delaney Hall, which has been the focus of mounting concerns about inhumane and unsanitary conditions for detainees. State officials say repeated attempts to inspect the taxpayer-funded facility have been blocked.

The legal action follows a series of events over Memorial Day weekend, when Governor Mikie Sherrill joined elected leaders outside Delaney Hall after detainees began a hunger strike to protest conditions inside. According to state officials, GEO Group has refused to provide full transparency despite growing public pressure.

"If the GEO Group — with a $1 billion government contract — has nothing to hide and the conditions inside Delaney Hall are as safe and as sanitary as this private corporation and the Trump Administration claim, then there is no legitimate reason why my health inspectors are being kept from full access throughout the building," Sherrill said. "The people of New Jersey deserve transparency and accountability, and I will continue using all the power of this office to advocate for the detainees and their families."

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka ssays the facility should be shut down entirely. "We believe that the way Geo Group opened the facility was in contravention to the city municipal code from the very beginning. It has no real grounds to be open. It should be closed on the grounds that we stated in the first place," Baraka said.

He added that the state's legal action goes beyond regulatory violations.

"The lawsuit filed by Attorney General Jennifer Davenport today is not just for violations, but for the ways in which detainees are being treated, which is a matter of health and safety," Baraka said. "People have to be treated humanely in institutions."

While the legal battle escalates, tensions on the ground in Newark appear to be easing after more than a week of protests and clashes.

For now, Newark police remain stationed behind barricades near Delaney Hall, though Baraka said he hopes to lift the city's curfew as early as this evening or tomorrow. He described the situation as calm compared to recent days.

Protesters and law enforcement had clashed repeatedly over the past week, with some encounters turning violent. A fire was set in the middle of a nearby street over the weekend, further raising tensions.

Baraka blamed federal immigration authorities for triggering the unrest. "I think it was escalated the minute ICE showed up on the scene. They created this kind of escalation that took place, and we have not recovered from until last night. That's the reality of the matter," Baraka said. "I know that because when I was here and was arrested, it was escalated by them, so I know there's a history of escalation."

The mayor also expressed concern about interactions not only between ICE agents and protesters, but involving state police as well. Despite the unrest, Baraka pointed to the city's community policing strategy as a success, noting that no arrests were made during demonstrations Monday night. "We just want to be able to control what is happening in our own city," he said.

The mayor is now urging residents and demonstrators to return their focus to Delaney Hall and the conditions inside, which he says remain the root cause of the protests.

Still, he acknowledged a potential consequence if the facility is ultimately shut down.

"They would immediately transfer these people out of this state. That's what they would do," Baraka said. "That is the downside of what we are talking about here."