U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement denied New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill access to the Delaney Hall migrant detention center in Newark on Monday, where more than 300 detainees have been on a hunger strike since Friday and dozens of protesters have gathered outside to denounce overcrowding, lack of medical care, and unsanitary conditions.

Sherrill, the first sitting New Jersey governor to seek entry into the facility, said her request was rejected without explanation. She met instead with families of detained immigrants and rights advocates protesting outside the jail, describing their accounts as heartbreaking.

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The detention facility has faced mounting criticism since President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign began, with reports of severe overcrowding. The weekend protests escalated into clashes with federal authorities, who made several arrests.

According to a recent CNN investigation, nearly 50 ICE detainees have died since Trump took office — the highest death toll in at least two decades — with at least 17 deaths recorded so far this year alone.

Sherrill was accompanied by Democratic lawmakers including Senator Andy Kim and Representatives Rob Menendez Jr., Nellie Pou, and LaMonica McIver. The group vowed to keep pressing for transparency and humane treatment of detainees. ICE has not commented on the denial of access or the hunger strike.

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