Newark Mayor Ras Baraka late Saturday imposed a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew within a half-mile of the Delaney Hall immigration detention center after New Jersey State Police fired tear gas at protesters for the second consecutive night, escalating a standoff outside the federal facility that has now run roughly 10 days.
The order closes Doremus Avenue to pedestrians and restricts vehicle access to those with verified business in the area, marking the most aggressive municipal response yet to demonstrations over conditions inside the Newark facility, which is operated by GEO Group under ICE contract.
What Baraka ordered
"Due to the escalating situation at Delaney Hall and the increasing need for police intervention, immediate action is required to protect public safety," Baraka said in a statement reported by CBS News. "Multiple individuals have already been arrested and found in possession of weapons, underscoring the seriousness of the threat." The mayor warned that violators will face removal and summonses.
New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said protesters Saturday night attacked a barrier between officers and demonstrators, charged at police, threw projectiles and set a fire. "We denounce any violent conduct that interferes with peaceful protesting," Davenport said, according to NBC News.
How Saturday escalated
Republican organizers staged a pro-ICE rally that was significantly outnumbered by counter-protesters, CBS News reported. Members of the Proud Boys appeared at the site, and a heavier state-police presence kept the groups separated by fencing.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who on Friday ordered a protected protest zone, said five of the six people arrested late Friday were from outside New Jersey. "To the people coming from out of state to create chaos and dangerous situations, you should not be here," Sherrill said at a Saturday news conference. "You are not helping the people detained at Delaney Hall, you're not helping detainee families, and you're certainly not keeping New Jersey safe."
State police said officers issued multiple dispersal warnings before deploying the Public Safety Response Team. Six people were arrested Friday on charges including disorderly conduct, endangering another person and obstruction of justice. A Madison, N.J., man arrested earlier in the week is accused of biting an ICE agent's forearm and faces up to 20 years in prison.
The counterpoint
DHS and Trump-administration officials were not available through a direct primary source by press time. The federal posture appeared mainly in social-media statements and in pro-ICE demonstrators quoted by CBS News and NBC News. Rachel Castillo, a pro-ICE protester, said she came to back ICE officers because "we need to let them do their job" — a phrasing she used in remarks to CBS News. Another supporter quoted by NBC News said the officers were "under crazy scrutiny" as they tried to make sure their colleagues made it home safe. The Department of Homeland Security posted on X early Sunday that the agency “WON’T BACK DOWN.” GEO Group has categorically rejected what it called "baseless accusations" against the facility and said its medical and dietary services meet federal standards.
Protests are expected to continue Sunday night under the new curfew, the first test of whether the half-mile cordon can hold.