The name Delaney Hall has become synonymous in recent weeks with the cruelty of President Trump’s immigration crackdown.
A gray-and-white building rising from industrial lots in a forgotten stretch of Newark, Delaney Hall has turned into a hopeless place, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center where detainees languish with little information about their fates. But it was once the exact opposite, according to the members of the family for which the center is named.
Delaney Hall was originally named for Geraldine Owen Delaney, known to some by her initials — which only somewhat ironically spell “God,” a nod to her work in the addiction recovery space — and known to others as “Mrs. D.” To her nieces and nephews, she was Gerry.
The facility was intended to be a halfway house for low-level offenders, Marianne Delaney, one of Geraldine Delaney’s nieces, said in an interview. The current iteration of Delaney Hall, she said, has “nothing to do with the original mission.”
In a letter submitted to The New York Times, Marianne Delaney and her sister called for an immediate investigation into the conditions inside Delaney Hall, where food is reported to be inedible, living quarters are dirty and medical care is insufficient.
“We believe it is time to confront whether Delaney Hall, as it exists today, can ever fulfill its original rehabilitative purpose,” they wrote. “If it cannot, it should be closed and its name retired from this use, rather than continue as a symbol of something our aunt spent her life fighting against.”
Geraldine Delaney was a trained nutritionist who opened a highly regarded treatment center in New Jersey, and she herself was at least 50 years sober at the time of her death in 1998 at age 91.
“It’s her name, it’s our family name,” Marianne Delaney said in an interview about her aunt. “And this was complete antithesis to whatever she supported and promoted in her life.”
Delaney Hall first opened in 2000, offering 250 beds to low-level offenders serving jail terms that were less than one year. It had minimal security.
It sat directly next to the Essex County Jail, and it eventually evolved into a 1,200-bed center used to free up space in the jail by housing inmates and immigration detainees. From 2011 to 2017, ICE used Delaney Hall to hold up to 450 immigrant detainees at a time, according to court documents.
A New York Times investigation in 2012 found that by moving inmates to Delaney Hall, Essex County was able to rent the empty beds “to the federal government to house federal inmates and immigration detainees,” for a significant profit. The result was a dangerous environment, where inmates booked on minor offenses were thrown in beside more violent criminals, resulting in at least one death.
It was closed for some time before reopening in 2025 as an ICE detention center.
“She really wanted to provide alcohol and addiction rehabilitation for low-level offenders in a rehab setting,” Marianne Delaney said of her aunt’s intentions when the facility was first opened. “To see her name used this way is just disgraceful.”
Geraldine Delaney was widely recognized as a pioneer in the rehabilitation movement. She fell into addiction early in her life, but met Bill and Lois Wilson, the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous, and they helped her gain sobriety in the 1940s, Marianne Delaney said.
In 1949, she married Thomas Francis Delaney, and together they began the Little Hill Foundation and opened Alina Lodge, a well-known rehab center in Blairstown, N.J. Mr. Delaney was also a recovering addict.
According to Geraldine Delaney’s obituary, “she was known for her approach to the long-term treatment of people who resisted such help.” She focused specifically on people who were struggling to recover and took a hard line, including “total abstinence, strict rules and an atmosphere of tough love,” the obituary said.
Betty Ford, the former first lady, once praised Geraldine Delaney’s work and referred to her as “a front-runner in the field of alcohol and drug treatment.”
“Many people thought she was quite stern, but I think the role she played in running a rehab for people who were at the end of hope’s door demanded that,” Marianne Delaney said. “She was no nonsense, absolutely no nonsense — brilliant.”
Georgia Gee contributed research.
