The Curfew Is In. Visitation Is Back. The Spin War Just Started.

The chaos outside Delaney Hall didn't just produce tear gas and burning fences. It produced something Washington runs on: a victory lap dispute.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka's 9 p.m.–6 a.m. curfew — covering a half-mile radius around the facility — took effect Sunday and is holding, according to NBC News. The area around Delaney Hall, which had been a war zone Friday and Saturday night, is secured. That part is settled.

Everything else is a fight.

Sherrill Claims Victory. DHS Says She Created the Problem.

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced Sunday that DHS had "met her demand" to restore family visitation at the facility, according to CNN. Limited visitation resumed at noon Sunday. Full regular hours are back Monday.

DHS wasn't having it.

"We did not cave to the Governor's demands," a DHS spokesperson said in a statement reported by the NY Post. "Visitation was suspended because the violent riots outside the facility made it unsafe for our officers, detainees' families and lawyers to visit the facility."

The spokesperson went further: "Visitation was only suspended because of violent riots. Now that we have a secure perimeter, visitation can resume."

DHS's argument: Sherrill and allies helped stoke the riots. The riots caused the visitation suspension. Sherrill is now taking credit for fixing the mess she helped create.

What Sherrill and Her Allies Actually Did

On Memorial Day, Sherrill showed up at Delaney Hall alongside Sen. Andy Kim and Rep. Rob Menendez for what the NY Post called "a big show" of trying to gain entry for an inspection. They were denied. The cameras were rolling. Tensions escalated after that.

Sherrill, a Democratic governor, has publicly called for Delaney Hall to be shut down — a demand she has zero legal authority to enforce, according to WHYY. No New Jersey official, and no member of Congress, has the power to close the facility.

Sen. Cory Booker visited the facility May 27 and posted on social media that conditions inside "would be a moral stain" on the community, according to WHYY. He also acknowledged that "the majority of the people we encountered have no criminal charges" — a line that became protest fuel.

Sen. Andy Kim told reporters Sunday it had been "one of the most difficult weeks of my entire life," according to The Hill.

House Democrats Tour the Facility Sunday

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries visited Delaney Hall Sunday alongside Reps. Menendez, LaMonica McIver, and Josh Gottheimer. In a joint statement reported by the NY Post, the four said conditions they witnessed "shock the conscience" after speaking with approximately two dozen detainees.

"Immigration enforcement in this country should be fair, just..." their statement began.

Notably absent from that statement: any condemnation of the rioters who attacked barriers, threw projectiles, and set a fire Saturday night — acts that New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin himself acknowledged, according to NBC News.

What Left-Leaning Outlets Are Glossing Over

CNN's coverage focused heavily on the curfew mechanics and detainee conditions. NBC News ran with "cruel conditions" in its headline. Both are legitimate angles. Neither spent much time on the documented violence — projectile attacks on officers, weapons found on arrested individuals, an actual fire.

Mayor Baraka was direct in his statement: "Multiple individuals have already been arrested and found in possession of weapons." That's the reason for the curfew.

New Jersey's own Democratic AG said protesters "attacked" a barrier and "charged at officers." That language came from New Jersey Democrats. CNN and NBC buried it.

What Right-Leaning Outlets Are Glossing Over

The NY Post's framing leans hard into Sherrill-created-the-chaos. Fair point — but the paper gave minimal space to the underlying detainee grievances that started this: a hunger strike, disputed conditions, a city of Newark lawsuit filed in April 2025 alleging GEO Group opened Delaney Hall without proper permits and inspections, according to WHYY.

That lawsuit is in mediation. Both sides have a June 15 deadline to complete talks. That's a real accountability issue that got minimal coverage.

The Proud Boys Showed Up.

About 200 pro-ICE supporters, including members of the Proud Boys, arrived Saturday to counter the anti-ICE demonstrators, according to the NY Post. The two groups were separated by barriers. It was largely peaceful during the day. By night, things went sideways — though reporting doesn't clearly link the Proud Boys specifically to the violence.

What Happens Next

The curfew is a band-aid. The underlying issues — GEO Group's permit lawsuit, detainee access complaints, and the fundamental question of who actually runs oversight at this facility — are not resolved. The mediation deadline is June 15. Watch that date.

Weapons were confiscated, fires were set, tear gas was deployed, and now politicians from both sides are posturing over who "won." Newark residents living near a facility that turned into a riot zone for a week certainly didn't.