Judicial Watch Sues Homeland Security for Records on New Jersey ICE Facility Breach by Newark Mayor, Three Democratic Congress Members

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security seeking audio and video recordings, as well as inter-agency communications, related to a May 9, 2025, breach of the Delaney Hall Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in New Jersey involving Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and three Democratic members of Congress (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:26-cv-01539)).

Judicial Watch sued after Homeland Security failed to respond to a November 2025 FOIA request for:

All audio recordings or video footage of the May 2025 incident at the Delaney Hall Detention Center in New Jersey during which public officials and other protesters attempted to enter the facility illegally.

All records of communication between any official or employee of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and any official or employee of any federal branch, department, or agency regarding the incident.

Baraka was arrested at the scene for trespassing and released hours later.

Representatives Rob Menendez Jr., Bonnie Watson Coleman, and LaMonica McIver—also present with a group of protesters—entered the facility grounds when security gates opened to admit an ICE bus.

The Department of Homeland Security stated: “These members of Congress storming into a detention facility goes beyond a bizarre political stunt and puts the safety of our law enforcement agents and detainees at risk. Members of Congress are not above the law and cannot illegally enter detention facilities. Had these members requested a tour, we would have facilitated a tour of the facility.”

In June 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that McIver “was charged in a three-count indictment for allegedly impeding and interfering with federal officers.”

“We are seeking all audio and video from the scene of an incident that could have easily escalated,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The continued anti-ICE rhetoric from the radical Left is putting lives in danger.”

In February 2026, Judicial Watch filed of FOIA lawsuit for video footage and photographs of the attack on ICE’s Prairieland Detention Facility in Alvarado, TX, on July 4, 2025 (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No.1:26-cv-00331)).

In December 2025, Judicial Watch sued the Department of Homeland Security for records on migrants who entered the United States from 2020–2025, using arrest warrants and removal orders as proof of identification.

In November 2025, Judicial Watch sued Evanston, IL, Mayor Daniel Biss for records related to obstruction of federal immigration enforcement, as well as Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs for records regarding her office reportedly ordering state police and the National Guard to withhold cooperation from federal immigration enforcement authorities.

Judicial Watch in December 2025 pointed out that in just two states with “sanctuary” policies, nearly 9,000 criminal aliens were released from jails and prisons since January 20, defying Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers to deport them.

In October 2025, Judicial Watch reported on a Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF), established by Trump on the day of his inauguration to tackle a pandemic of transnational organized crime created by the Biden administration’s “disgraceful” open border policies, had made thousands of arrests and seized over 1,000 illegal firearms, 91 tons of drugs and $3 million in currency.

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