NEWARK, NEW JERSEY — Visitors to the Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, have reported multiple denials of entry due to dress code policies. Protests and a state lawsuit regarding conditions have followed. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operates the facility.

Gabriela Soto stated that guards denied her visitation access to her husband, who has been detained at the facility since January, on more than ten occasions. Soto reported that these denials were due to alleged dress code violations involving either herself or her children. She also stated that a guard nearly rejected her visit over her 11-month-old's onesie and denied another visit because her four-year-old daughter wore leggings. Soto asked, "How is that provocative if she's only four years old?"

Mass protests have occurred outside the Delaney Hall facility, which opened in May of the preceding year. Police clashes with demonstrators outside the facility resulted in dozens of arrests. Soto has organized protests outside the facility demanding her husband's release.

The state of New Jersey filed a lawsuit against Geo Group, seeking expanded access for state health inspectors. The lawsuit alleges unsanitary food and drink preparation and storage at the facility. Legal filings also indicate the New Jersey health department received a report concerning inadequate tuberculosis infection control practices. The Department of Homeland Security stated that health inspectors were granted access to the facility and denied that a detainee hunger strike occurred, despite reports of such an event inside Delaney Hall.

Visitor testimony indicates that children younger than 12 have been denied entry due to their clothing, despite the written dress code applying only to visitors aged 12 and older. The public dress code guidelines prohibit form-fitting clothing, open-toed shoes, leggings, damaged pants, and wearing a T-shirt without a bra. The code also prohibits undefined gang colors. Kathy O'Leary, an activist with Pax Christi USA, said she has not witnessed another Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility reject children over clothing. O'Leary said, "Delaney Hall is weird."

Activist records document over a dozen visitors being denied entry on April 28 for alleged dress code violations. One 16-year-old visitor was denied entry while wearing a knee-length black smock dress that complied with her school uniform policy. This 16-year-old stated guards previously rejected her mother for wearing a postpartum belly wrap after a miscarriage; her mother removed the belly wrap after being denied entry. Delaney Hall guidelines permit skirts and dresses that reach the knee when seated, and O'Leary stated that the Delaney Hall dress code requires skirts to fall below the knees. Daphinne Bazzoni, a 24-year-old visitor, was denied entry while wearing open-toed footwear; public dress code guidelines prohibit open-toed shoes and require footwear to be worn at all times. Volunteers distribute clothing to visitors denied entry over alleged dress code violations. An anonymous visitor stated one guard denied her for wearing ankle-strap heels while another guard later stated the heels complied with guidelines.