Story perspectives

ICE Detention Center Bans Family Clothing, Sparks Visitor Outcry

6/16/2026

Summary

Story summary

ICE’s Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, New Jersey enforces a visitor dress code that bars families from entry.
The code bans form-fitting garments, leggings, short skirts, open-toed shoes and toddlers’ onesies, and guards enforce it inconsistently.
Visitors report anxiety, delayed visits, and loss of minutes while scrambling for acceptable attire.
Volunteer groups hand out clothing each visitation day after a guard ripped a four-year-old’s birthday drawing when refusing entry.

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Story summary

ICE’s Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, New Jersey enforces a visitor dress code that bars families from entry.
The code bans form-fitting garments, leggings, short skirts, open-toed shoes and toddlers’ onesies, and guards enforce it inconsistently.
Visitors report anxiety, delayed visits, and loss of minutes while scrambling for acceptable attire.
Volunteer groups hand out clothing each visitation day after a guard ripped a four-year-old’s birthday drawing when refusing entry.