Democrats have a well-worn routine when it comes to immigration enforcement. Obstruct federal agents at every opportunity. Manufacture confrontations. Then sprint to the nearest camera and fundraising page, howling about human rights violations that conveniently never hold up to scrutiny. It’s dishonest. It’s calculated. And the American people are catching on.
The latest installment comes courtesy of New Jersey, where a whole circus of Democratic politicians apparently decided that Memorial Day weekend — when most Americans are laying wreaths and remembering the fallen — was prime time to advocate for detained illegal aliens. Priorities, right?
From The Post Millennial:
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin blasted Corey Booker after the New Jersey senator claimed that illegal immigrants detained were going on hunger strike at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, and said it had “deplorable” conditions. Mullin said that there have only been a few ICE detainees that are demanding that they have their “ethnic food.”
“Immigrants at Delaney Hall are on a hunger strike because they are fighting for their human rights. The conditions there are deplorable,” Booker said in a post to X. “We’re working with our partners in the state to bring an end to this nightmare and I’ll be going to Delaney Hall again to conduct oversight.”
Let’s cut straight to it. Senator Booker told the American public that detainees at Newark’s Delaney Hall facility were on a hunger strike over deplorable conditions. Bold claim. DHS Secretary Mullin didn’t dance around his response: “There is NO hunger strike at Delaney Hall. There are no subprime conditions.” He called the entire spectacle “nothing more than a political stunt by New Jersey sanctuary politicians for fundraising clicks.”
So what was actually happening inside Delaney Hall? A handful of detainees were refusing meals because they wanted different food on the menu. Not a hunger strike. Not a human rights crisis. A cafeteria complaint. You genuinely cannot make this stuff up.
“This isn’t Holiday Inn”
During a cabinet meeting, Secretary Mullin spelled out the situation and delivered the line that deserves to be framed: “They say that it’s because they’re on a hunger strike… because they want their ethnic right food. Well, they can go back to their country and get whatever food they want… this isn’t Holiday Inn.”
The detainees are receiving adequate calories. They want custom menus. Let that sink in for a moment. American veterans are fighting for timely healthcare appointments. Seniors on fixed incomes are stretching every dollar at the grocery store. And we’re supposed to be outraged that illegal aliens in federal custody don’t have enough entrée options. Spare me.
Mullin posed a question every New Jersey voter ought to sit with: “Would these sanctuary politicians like to house these criminals in their homes or have them as neighbors?”
A well-rehearsed routine
It gets worse. This isn’t some one-off miscommunication from Booker. Delaney Hall has become a permanent stage set for Democratic performance art. Rep. LaMonica McIver currently faces a federal indictment stemming from a 2025 altercation with law enforcement outside this very facility. Senator Andy Kim got himself pepper-sprayed by ICE officials after showing up at the detention center on Sunday. Governor Mikie Sherrill was denied entry and promptly turned the moment into a social media photo opportunity — posting about “heartbreaking” conditions she never actually saw firsthand.
Six House members joined the protests. Rep. Jerry Nadler claimed the food contained maggots — a dramatic allegation offered without a shred of verification. None of this was spontaneous. It was a coordinated campaign, staged over a sacred holiday weekend, engineered to produce exactly the kind of headlines that fill Democratic donation pages.
The sanctuary state shell game
Here’s what should infuriate every person who pays taxes in this country. New Jersey’s Democratic establishment spent years building sanctuary policies that shield illegal aliens from federal law enforcement. Now those same politicians are outraged that ICE is actually detaining criminals — people Secretary Mullin described as “murderers, pedophiles, rapists, and drug traffickers” — within state borders. They rolled out the welcome mat for years. Now they’re furious someone finally checked the guest list.
Cory Booker didn’t exaggerate conditions at Delaney Hall. He didn’t put a sympathetic spin on a messy situation. He fabricated a hunger strike that wasn’t happening, and he did it while American families were honoring their war dead. The Trump administration called his bluff publicly and without hesitation. Every American who values basic honesty in government should remember this episode the next time a Democrat sounds the alarm about conditions at an ICE facility. The only crisis here is one of credibility — and it belongs entirely to Senator Booker.
Key Takeaways
- DHS Secretary Mullin confirmed there is no hunger strike at Delaney Hall — detainees simply wanted different menu options.
- Senator Booker fabricated a crisis to generate fundraising clicks over Memorial Day weekend.
- New Jersey Democrats created sanctuary policies, then attacked ICE for enforcing the law.
- The Trump administration refused to let the false narrative stand unchallenged.
Sources: The Post Millennial, New Jersey Globe
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