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.

Mullin responded, “This is nothing more than a political stunt by New Jersey sanctuary politicians for fundraising clicks. There is NO hunger strike at Delaney Hall. There are no subprime conditions.”

“@SenBooker, @SenatorAndyKim, @RepMenendez, @RepNellie, @FrankPallone, @GovSherrillNJ and dozens of New Jersey sanctuary politicians chose to spend their Memorial Day weekend smearing ICE law enforcement. They should be thanking our law enforcement for removing these murderers, pedophiles, rapists, and drug traffickers from their state,” Mullin added.

In a cabinet meeting, Mullin called out Booker as well as other Democrats, and said that there were “only a handful of individuals that was refusing to eat” because they were not getting their “ethnic food.”

“The fact is, we’re giving them the calories they want. This isn’t Holiday Inn,” Mullin added. 

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill condemning the facility on X. “I went to Delaney Hall after reports of unsafe and unconstitutional conditions inside, and what I heard from families and advocates was heartbreaking, ” she said. “The people being held there are fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters who deserve to be treated with dignity.”

As news of the alleged inhuman conditions in Delaney Hall spread, Democratic lawmakers including Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and Booker were granted access to the detention center Wednesday afternoon where Nadler claimed the food fed to the detainees as “very sparse” and with maggots. 

DHS has denied any reports of inhumane conditions with Mullin warning Delaney Hall protestors Thursday afternoon on X that any assaults on law enforcement would be met with consequences

Delaney Hall which originally opened in 2000 has been the center of other controversies in the past with Rep. LaMonica McIver, (D-NJ) being the subject of a federal indictment in 2025 after a May 9 altercation with law enforcement occurred outside the Newark area detention facility.