Booker Introduces Amendment to Restore Immigration Detention Oversight and Hold Private Contractors Accountable

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced an amendment to reestablish the Office of Immigration Detention Ombudsman (OIDO) and strengthen accountability measures for private immigration detention contractors, as Newark officials and the New Jersey Attorney General pursue legal action to shut down Delaney Hall following reports of unsafe conditions and blocked state inspections.

"Delaney Hall is a moral stain on our community, and the treatment of those held there offends our fundamental American values," Booker said. "During my last oversight visit I met a woman who had suffered a miscarriage at the facility and was denied medical care and then told by the staff she had made it up. I met another woman nursing her American born infant who still could not get the basic support she needed for her child. When a facility refuses congressional inspections and people are driven to hunger strikes just to be heard, oversight is not optional, it is urgent. This facility must be closed. And stronger accountability measures like those in this proposal must be implemented immediately because what I witnessed is not an isolated failure. It is what impunity looks like."

Booker's amendment ensures that taxpayer dollars aren't used to fund facilities and enrich corporations that endanger the lives of the people in their custody. The amendment would reestablish OIDO and require DHS to withhold payments to contractors, subcontractors, or cooperating entities when OIDO finds potential misconduct, excessive force, or violations of detention standards, until corrective actions are implemented.

Congress created OIDO in 2019 to investigate detainee deaths, medical neglect, and employee misconduct. But in May 2026, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced it was shutting the office down at the same time that conditions across facilities have been deteriorating. At least 18 people have died in ICE custody this year.

Delaney Hall, operated by the GEO Group, is currently the subject of lawsuits from Newark officials and the New Jersey Attorney General following reports of inadequate medical care, unsanitary conditions, and the facility's refusal to allow state health inspections. Advocates have also documented contaminated food, retaliation against hunger strikers, and unsafe conditions for pregnant women. A separate lawsuit filed on behalf of individuals detained at the facility alleges violations of federal detention standards.

Booker has long fought for stronger oversight of ICE detention facilities and has introduced legislation-including the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act-to end the use of private, for-profit detention centers.

"Restoring the Ombudsman's office is the bare minimum," Booker said. "We cannot allow DHS to dismantle oversight while people are dying."

Booker's amendment did not advance, falling short in the voterama series with a vote of 46-53.