Hundreds of people in an immigration detention centre in the US state of New Jersey are on a hunger strike, according to their families. They're protesting poor conditions inside the Delaney Hall facility. It comes as an investigation found 10 people have died by suicide in immigration detention since President Donald Trump took office at the beginning of last year and launched an aggressive deportation strategy.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Adriana Garzon had a nightly ritual with her son, Brayan Rayo Garzon.
"Our routine was to always say goodbye and a prayer."
When he was taken into detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, he repeatedly asked to speak with her but he'd been forbidden by staff from making calls, as a precaution meant to prevent the spread of illness.
He'd also asked for mental health treatment.
He was on his fourth day in isolation when he took his own life.
"He asked for psychological help. They didn’t give it to him. To me, that’s negligence.”
Brayan Rayo Garzon's death in April 2025 was the first in a spike of suicides by ICE detainees.
An investigation by Associated Press has found at least 10 detainees have died by suicide since Trump took office in January 2025, a pace which far exceeds the growth in the detainee population.
It's a big jump as ICE usually records one or no such deaths annually.
Dr Sanjay Basu from the University of California, San Francisco, says the figures point to broader mental health failures within the detention system, as tens of thousands of immigrants are swept up in the Trump administration's aggressive deportation strategy.
"The proportion being so high, you know, essentially 1 in 5 deaths from suicide. Suicide being the most extreme endpoint of a broader mental health concern indicates that something is going profoundly wrong if that many suicides are occurring as a proportion of people."
The Department of Homeland Security says suicide remains extremely rare and detention staff follow strict protocols to ensure the safety of detainees who show signs of self-harm.
ICE has repeatedly said it screens detainees within 12 hours of arrival for medical, dental and mental health conditions.
But Associated Press found it took 35 hours to conduct the initial medical screening for Mr Garzon.
"Free them all, free them all, free them all."
These concerns and the AP investigation follows the closure earlier this month of the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman.
The office reviewed abuse and misconduct in the immigration detention system.
The report on suicides also comes as hundreds of people inside Delaney Hall Detention Center in New Jersey begin a hunger strike to protest conditions inside.
Gabriela Soto's husband is among them.
"I am the wife of Martin Soto. He is a participant in the hunger strike. But they retaliated against him. They're singling him out. This is a collective, unified team of over 300 detainees across all units inside. It is not just one person."
According to a letter from those inside the facility, basic conditions are not being met.
"Food containing worms are in a state of decay, unresolved issues, particularly the bathrooms, which are terrible and inhumane conditions, ventilation problems, serious health issues, most people have a persistent flu with phlegm that won't go away. Many have conjunctivitis, urinary tract infections, fever and coughs. Medical care issues - if you are sick, you have to submit a request that takes two weeks to be answered or you never get a response at all."
New York Democrat, Daniel Goldman, went inside to see conditions for himself, and spoke to the media outside.
"The stories that we've heard out of here are horrific and unfortunately consistent with what we've been hearing across the country and ICE continues to blatantly lie about the conditions in all of these detention facilities. I've been to MDC (Metropolitan Detention Center) in Brooklyn where the immigration folks are treated like criminals even though they have no criminal record."
The Department of Homeland Security says there are no poor conditions or abuse at the facility.
The executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey Amol Sinha says those inside include pregnant women, and the treatment amounts to illegal abuse.
"They're experiencing deplorable conditions. They're experiencing lack of medical care. We've heard repeatedly about these horror stories: of pregnant women not getting access to care, of people with injuries not being treated, of people who are not getting access to the medicine that they need to save their lives. And just like everybody outside, everybody inside has constitutional rights too."
Meanwhile, Adriana Garzon thinks constantly of the son she lost inside the immigration detention system.
“Every day we talk about him - every day. There is no day where we don’t say his name.”
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If you or someone you know needs crisis support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14, the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for young people aged up to 25). More information and support with mental health is available at beyondblue.org.au and on 1300 22 4636.
Embrace Multicultural Mental Health supports people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
For culturally appropriate Indigenous support call 13 YARN.. a 24 hour national telephone helpline on 13 92 76 which provides support across a range of issues including mental health. https://www.13yarn.org.au/
