Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has dismissed complaints from immigrant detainees on hunger strike at a New Jersey detention centre, telling them they are not in a “Holiday Inn”. Speaking at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Mullin said the detainees were refusing to eat because they wanted “ethnic food”.
“They’re refusing to eat because they want their ethnic food,” he said. “Well, they can go back to their country and get whatever food they want. We’re giving them the calories they want. This isn’t Holiday Inn.”
The hunger strike at Delaney Hall in Newark entered its sixth day on Wednesday, with around 300 detainees protesting conditions inside the facility. Demonstrators have clashed with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in military gear, and two people were arrested late Tuesday on charges of assaulting federal officers.
President Donald Trump backed Mullin, calling the protesters “fake” and “paid for”, and claiming the US runs “the finest facilities anywhere in the world”. However, detainees and lawmakers who have visited the site allege unconstitutional and inhumane conditions, including rotting food, lack of legal access, and retaliation from ICE agents.
New Jersey Senator Andy Kim, who was hit by chemical agents during a protest on Monday, called for the facility to be shut down. “Delaney Hall is a failure; it’s this administration’s failure,” he said. The 1,000-bed centre, operated by private contractor GEO Group under a $1 billion contract, opened in May 2025 and is at the centre of growing controversy over immigration detention practices.
