“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” —George Orwell, “1984”
The photographs spread quickly across the internet: Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) outside Delaney Hall, the ICE detention facility in Newark, washing pepper spray from his eyes.
Kim had publicly demanded the facility’s closure since December 2025. He has repeatedly painted ICE as an instrument of “lawless” violence weaponized by Stephen Miller and Donald Trump against U.S. citizens.
The violence that occurred outside Delaney Hall was not provoked by ICE agents enforcing the law. It was instigated and organized by leftist protesters, activists, aligned organizations.
On May 24, Sen. Kim released a statement with Rep. Rob Menendez (D-N.J.) in which he described the food as disgusting and argued that detainees were experiencing inhumane treatment.
Kim proudly proclaimed, “Cruelty is what this administration, what [U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement] is trying to do.”
The next day Kim visited the facility. Upon exiting, he encountered ICE officers there for protection and a crowd of protesters blocking entrances and exits. Kim intervened in front of the cameras, positioning himself as someone who was trying to de-escalate the situation.
Shockingly, the riotous crowd did not listen to Sen. Kim, and during ICE’s attempts to disperse the crowd, he was hit with pepper spray.
The imagery was perfect for the narrative he wanted. Andy Kim spent months fanning the flames of outrage at Delaney Hall, then had the audacity to pose as the firefighter trying to extinguish the fire he helped start.
Andy Kim and others, include Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D), painted Delaney Hall as a starvation camp. Yet the DHS published the menu detainees received, including oatmeal, pancakes, scrambled eggs, grilled potatoes, milk, coffee, chicken legs, turkey stir-fry, beef burritos, vegetarian beans, fajitas, vegetables, and commissary access.
Sen. Kim has also claimed there is a lack of medical care for detainees at Delaney Hall. The DHS directly disputes this claim and points out the fact that the moment an alien enters ICE custody, he has access to medical, dental, and mental health services as available and access to 24-hour emergency care.
It is easy to acknowledge that freedom is preferable to detention; the claims of forced starvation are meritless and ignore the fact that the detainees are alleged to have violated our immigration laws and are subject to deportation.
It is notable that no elected representative is able to make the argument that illegal alien detainees are subject to worse conditions than American citizens who are detained over the January 6 protests.
In fact, no representative who has protested against Delaney Hall has been able to point to any U.S. citizen being mistakenly detained there, despite vocal claims by leading Democrats that citizens are being wrongfully detained.
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The detainees are individuals who have violated our immigration laws. These are not random migrants caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. These are detainees awaiting removal proceedings, many with pending charges or prior convictions.
Kim’s selective empathy paints law enforcement as the villain and lawbreakers as martyrs.
The facility itself operated as an ICE detention center under the Obama administration from 2011 to 2017. The groundwork for its current contract was laid during the Biden years, with solicitations issued in 2024. Democrats who now decry it as an affront to humanity were silent, or complicit, when similar facilities operated under their own president.
Most importantly, the violence that occurred outside Delaney Hall was not provoked by ICE agents enforcing the law. It was instigated and organized by leftist protesters, activists, aligned organizations, and politicians who turned a lawful detention facility into a battleground and a political photo op.
By amplifying falsehoods and refusing to acknowledge the source of the latest example of political violence, they encourage precisely the chaos that logically followed: more riots, more assaults, more threats, and more division.
What purpose do these lies and the theater serve?
They distract from the Biden-era border policies that flooded the system and the Trump administration’s necessary corrective action. They continue to paint immigration enforcement as racist theater rather than the enforcement of duly passed laws. They virtue-signal to progressive donors and voters while eroding trust in federal institutions.
Performative visits coupled with distorted rhetoric do not solve problems; they inflame them.
The evidence is there for anyone willing to see it. The question is whether the Party will allow it.
