A Note About Detention Centers

Plus what to expect when you're expecting recipes

Hello all!

A quick couple of announcements and then, the real reason for this post.

Join me and Kate McDermott LIVE this evening at 8 PM/ET, 5 PM PT for all manner of conversation, including, but not limited to, pies, cookies, brownies, the cocktail I may just be drinking, the books we’re reading, the movies we are watching, the animals we are cuddling and probably some deep stuff as well. I reached out to Kate shortly after Pam Bondi finished her performance in front of Congress and asked her if she’d join me (and all of you) for some self-soothing. I have been overwhelmed this week by the news and need to reset. Figured you might be feeling like us. I look forward to seeing you tonight. (If you can’t make, the episode will be on YouTube after.)

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Detention Centers

The real purpose of this note is to share a post from a local Facebook page that I follow. It was written by a dad, Raj, who I know through friends, about his visits to Delaney Hall, the detention center in Newark, New Jersey that is currently holding people arrested in immigration raids.

As someone who lost the majority of her family in Nazi concentration camps, I was struck by similarities. One difference in this case is we do have the ability to give some help to detainees and their families. And, we can encourage, nay, demand, our state and federal representatives do something about these inhumane places, and prevent more of these from being built, as Georgia residents are attempting.

I have reprinted the note with Raj’s permission.

It was written on February 9, 2026.

This is a rather long brain dump of my visit to the ICE detention center at Delaney Hall in Newark NJ this weekend. I’ve also listed ways you can help at the end.

For background, I saw a clothing donation request for detainee families last week from a local mom, Christine. She is one of the amazing grassroots volunteers helping victims at the Delaney Hall ICE detention center in Newark, which is only 25 minutes away from our home in Montclair. I posted to my local dad text group who instantly sent the donations I needed (thx guys !). I think everyone wants to do something but doesn’t know what to do.

So I went to drop off the donations to Christine’s house and ask more questions in person. What I heard really just left me in disbelief. At one point she was on the verge of breaking down thinking of the anguish she has witnessed from these poor people. She said the best way to understand is to see it for yourself, and maybe bring a sign like “honk in support of humanity” because the detainees will hear it. They are so demoralized inside that it helps to hear people are fighting for them and still care. Because it’s literally like hell down there.

So I went to visit the detention center Sunday morning with some friends and my 15 yo daughter for a first hand visit.

It is all absolutely heartbreaking. Both for the detainees and for the families who are trying to get through this traumatic time. Detainees are primarily non violent, most are in a process of becoming legal and were snatched up from various immigration related touch points. All while they were doing as asked.

I talked to one young man whose dad is in there. He’s been in there for 10 months. They finally have a court date, and the right forms to hopefully get him back. He is the husband of a US citizen also. The son had driven here to transport some people who were new friends of his dad in the center who now are able to go home but have no ride. Not dangerous, just a sweet guy trying to help someone else while he does the work to try to get his dad back home.

Everyone is deathly afraid they will lose their loved one who could be deported without much family communication. Sent somewhere else. Just away. Imagine that happening to your spouse. Some of the volunteers are just visiting people who have no one here to visit them. Just to give them some kind of interaction to help them keep hope alive.

Inside, the detainees are in horrible inhumane conditions. It’s barely insulated so it’s very cold in the facility and the clothing they are given is very thin. In summer it was unbearably hot. Tons of people are sick. Many have medical concerns and they aren’t giving them proper medical care. I talked to a woman who just saw her husband who has been in there for 3 months. He has been very sick with major GI issues for 10 days and has had no care. She said he’s lost 35 pounds and used to be full of strength and life. Now he was just low energy and in despair. I hugged her and she was very thankful and teary. She was glad people were there to help and listen. She is struggling to make ends meet. She was hoping the grocery bags of some food items might be there but they hadn’t come yet. The volunteers gave her $50 gift cards for groceries and she was so happy for this extra help.

If detainees need anything inside the facility they have to get it from the commissary for high prices from the owner of the facility, GEO Group. GEO has a $1 Billion contract to manage this facility. Many detainees have no money, so they are receiving donations from these local groups who give them some commissary funds to buy things like $8 for a cup of soup or a phone call to their family or an attorney.

These people volunteering are saints and it’s super grassroots but also well organized for what they are doing. It’s barbaric for everyone and there is a feeling of “how can this be happening here.” As I was told and experienced, a small kindness down there has a huge impact on their morale.

There is no warm place for families to wait so they are huddled in the cold, waiting to see their loved one for hours. Often with kids. Some babies also who come to visit their dad or mom. There is apparently a fat rendering plant also that makes it smell bad on some days to make it more torturous. They burn trash near by also so the pollutants are bad. Apparently the drinking water at the detention center is also polluted.

There’s no waiting area for visitors since this center wasn’t meant for this purpose. So they were cold, just waiting in an active driveway of the facility, unprotected from the weather. With big trucks flying by carrying garbage and other cargo. They were able to get Essex county to finally bring a tent 3 weeks ago. It’s not insulated so everyone is freezing huddling around a few gas heaters.

We brought some hot chocolate / hand warmers / snacks / toys for kids. Kids have nothing to do so having simple things to entertain them is helpful. They needed more gloves (it was freezing) and more sources of heat to warm people up. A woman asked hesitantly if she could maybe get some diapers for a baby back home which they gave her from a large stack of diapers.

We literally have a concentration camp 20 minutes away. Senator Andy Kim has been there a few times but they haven’t gotten as much support as they wanted from leaders. Corey Booker stopped in once but it felt like a press thing and nothing happened to improve conditions. I don’t think they have seen any one else and are hoping for Governor Mikie Sherrill to come visit and try to help the situation. Apparently DHS is trying to make a policy when they have 2 weeks notice before someone can inspect, so they can prepare for it instead of showing what’s actually happening every day.

And of course DHS wants to build much bigger facilities like in Roxbury NJ to hold many more people. God help us.

What you can do here in NJ:

Listen and learn:

Be part of “Eyes on Ice.” I’ve attached a flyer that mentions the groups involved and has more detail. Visiting times are on there for when families visit detainees and that’s when more help is needed.

On Instagram follow PaxChristiNJ who also sends an email of current needs. Also CosechaNJ and FirstFriendsNJNY.org

Go in person and witness:

Plan a visit with a few friends to see what’s going on. Bring signs and snacks or just hugs and kindness to show your support. You can park on the side of the road and walk to the tent they have outside to meet the volunteers. You will be inspired.

Donate what you can:

Gift cards in $25 and $50 denominations help. The ones we brought were accounted for and distributed based on need.

Donate to Specific family needs: https://linktr.ee/SupportOurFamilies

They need gift cards the most since for many families the only way they can get there is uber, and the breadwinner of the family is often the detainee. Plus many also lost SNAP benefits so now there is no source of food.

Support local food pantries: Human Needs pantry [a pantry local to Montclair] is helping some of the families with some food and clothing but they are very low so that’s a good place to donate also. All food pantries are very low due to loss of SNAP benefits for many.

Legal Services:

We were there and one of us was a lawyer and a woman really needed to talk to a lawyer to understand a document she had about the next hearing date. It seems like whatever legal help they have it’s not enough.

Everyone is so appreciative of people coming to support and find a way to help. Just showing up I think is an easy thing to do to get a lay of the land. The more who come see and hear what’s happening in these places, the more energy there will be from our leaders to stop this.

Many of us didn’t know this was happening right in our backyard. So I just wanted to share what I learned to help others activate as I started digging in. Thanks for reading.

And I just saw this post from Jamie Raskin this morning:

Let me know what you’re thinking. Take care.

And for your moment of Zen, here is video of Calvin, breathing in that deeply restful way cats have. I recommend breathing along.

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