Photographer pushed, hit with pepper spray at New Jersey immigration protest

Photojournalist David “Dee” Delgado was shoved by federal officers and pepper-sprayed while covering a protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its treatment of detainees in Newark, New Jersey, on May 28, 2026.

Protests outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility began May 22, when many detainees went on a hunger strike. Members of Congress, state and local lawmakers and rights groups have alleged dire conditions at the facility.

Federal officers responded to the protests with chemical irritants, physical force and arrests. The Department of Homeland Security has denied allegations of detainee mistreatment.

Delgado told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he believed ICE was targeting journalists outside Delaney Hall on May 28.

“They were talking amongst themselves, and they would point out photographers and journalists,” Delgado said. At one point, an officer recognized Delgado and remarked that he followed him on Instagram. “It felt like it was more of a threat than anything, just ‘we know who you are’ type of situation.”

Officers swung batons, broke his colleagues’ camera gear, and pushed him and other members of the media. While Delgado was photographing a confrontation between ICE officers and protesters trying to block law enforcement vehicles from leaving the facility, he said an officer pepper-sprayed him.

“He made eye contact with me and sprayed me,” said Delgado, who was on assignment for Reuters and wearing press credentials.

Delgado said the spray irritated his exposed skin, but he was more prepared than on May 26, when he was also pepper-sprayed. The next day, on May 29, Delgado was injured by a crowd-control munition fired by a state patrol officer.

In a statement issued May 29, DHS said officers repeatedly ordered protesters to clear the area and that protesters refused, preventing law enforcement from leaving the facility.

“Our law enforcement followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to protect themselves, the public, and federal property,” the statement read. It did not address the use of force against members of the press.