EXCLUSIVE: A New Jersey attorney is critical
Meet each other. Paul Kanitra, R-Toms River, spoke exclusively to Fox News Digital during a visit to Delaney Hall in Newark where he said Democrats created the problem that led to the protests.
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INTERMEDIATE: Speaking to Fox News Digital at the site of days of clashes between anti-ICE protesters and law enforcement, Republican state Rep. Paul Kanitra blasted Democrats for seeking what he described as “five-star status” for illegal immigrants.
In just a few days many Democrats in New Jersey, including Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Sen. Cory Booker, joined protesters outside ICE’s Delaney Hall, Kanitra called the Democrats’ way of handling illegal immigrants “disgraceful.”
“Democrats created this mess with all their legislation. Gov. Sherrill was in office for a few weeks before he passed three tough bills to protect illegal immigrants, unmask ICE agents, protect their bills. [illegal immigrants’] the situation here, we give them more benefits, and here he is outside knowing very well that he will not enter,” he said.
Democrats and protesters say inmates at the Newark ICE facility, known as Delaney Hall, have gone on hunger strike to protest harsh conditions.
ANTI-ICE PROMOTERS CONTACT AGENT OUTSIDE NEW JERSEY CENTER AS GOV. SHERRILL HAS BEEN DENIED ENTRY
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, DN.J., outside the Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark. (Sen. Andy Kim ; X)
On Monday, Sherrill wrote to X that he tried to enter Delaney Hall after hearing “dire” reports of unsafe and unconstitutional conditions. He wrote that his request to access the facility “was denied this morning, raising more questions about what they are trying to hide from the public.”
The Department of Public Security dismissed allegations of poor conditions and denied a hunger strike.
Kanitra asserted that Sherrill’s appearance “was a game to try to change the focus on their policies, which created this chaos, to try to make some kind of emotional news.”
He mocked the Democrats, saying, “The caterer here at Delaney Hall is actually the same caterer that provides $150,000 to $500,000 suits at Met Life Stadium.”
“It looks good enough for those guys, so I think it’s good enough for our offensive linemen behind us,” he said, pointing back to center.
The lawyer said he actually agrees that “all public officials should be allowed to see what’s going on inside.” [the ICE facility] they,” he said, “will refute these crazy allegations they have.”
“We’ve already heard from Secretary Mullin himself and DHS saying these are baseless allegations,” he continued. “I don’t know if they’re waiting for the Ritz Carlton behind us, but these people are here illegally or they were here as part of the privilege, with a visa or some other process, and they broke the law and they’re being deported.”
“They shouldn’t expect five-star accommodations here in New Jersey,” he concluded.
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Meanwhile, a protester named Diana Tabor told Fox News Digital that she believes the conditions inside the ICE facility are “absolutely wrong.” Tabor, who is Black, also noted that protesters have been questioning the ethics of ICE agents who “look like us,” saying, “It feels like treason.”
He said the protesters, who have camped outside the facility for several days, have different groups of lawyers and non-profit organizations and are willing to hold it for weeks or months “until justice is served.”
Tabor said he was there alone “on behalf of the people of Union County who have suffered because of the mistreatment at Delaney Hall.”
“We came here from different places, different organizations, we came here with different goals, but in the end, we created a big family, we have one goal, we all come together to achieve that goal,” said Tabor.
He agreed, “It’s important to protect the American people,” but he emphasized, “I believe there are different ways to do that, not kidnapping people, not putting them in overcrowded detention centers, I would say we need to find a better way to reduce that.”
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“I think it is clear that there are people who come here to commit crimes, there are murders and there are rapes and there are robberies and there are people who are harmed by loose borders, and that should be taken care of properly, but I think that if we start using our resources in the right way then we will start using them to fight criminals who abuse people within these borders,” he said.
“Therefore, I would say that we must first focus more on real crime, not just writing information about people based on their appearance,” added Tabor. “I think there’s a happy medium between protecting human rights and protecting the country.”
ICE agents arrest a protester outside the Delaney Hall detention center after protesters protested the transfer of detainees to Newark, NJ, on May 26, 2026. (Andres Kudacki/AP)
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DHS responded to the protests by publishing a statement saying that official nutritionists are testing the food and that all detainees are provided with three meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap and toilets.
The agency added that inmates “also have access to cell phones to communicate with their family members and lawyers” and that “ICE has higher arrest rates than most US prisons that hold actual US citizens.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Sherrill and Booker for comment.
