‘It’s like they’re kidnapped there’: families tell of distress over ‘inhumane’ ICE jail

As detainees go on hunger strike over conditions at Delaney Hall, relatives describe concern for loved ones’ wellbeing

In mid-May, Elder Guerra was showering inside the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility when he slipped and fell.

Guerra, a Guatemalan immigrant, has been locked up in the New Jersey jail for nearly five months. He was arrested by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in Newark in January while helping a friend move his snowed-in car. Officers had approached and asked a few questions, according to a relative who spoke with the Guardian.