Senator Andy Kim was left struggling to breathe after being pepper-sprayed by ICE agents during chaotic Memorial Day clashes outside an immigrant detention center.
The New Jersey Democrat, 43, was engulfed in chemical irritants as he stood with demonstrators outside Delaney Hall in Newark in his home state on Monday. The privately run, 1,000-bed jail holds roughly 300 detainees, many of whom have launched a hunger strike over the institution’s supposedly rotten food, broiling heat, and the withholding of medical care.
Kim had tried to broker a truce—agents pulling back their tactical teams in exchange for advocates inspecting cars leaving the facility—before the agents surged forward and fired pepper balls into the crowd, according to NJ.com.
He threw himself between the two sides, arms raised in a “stop” motion, then took a faceful of spray and was struck in the hand by an unknown object. “It’s just burning,” he said as medics worked on him.
Footage shared online by commentator Ed Krassenstein showed the senator slumped in a folding camp chair while volunteers in blue medical gloves rinsed his eyes with bottled water and rubbed chemical residue off his suit jacket.
In a statement posted to X, Kim accused agents of torching a peaceful protest. “I saw chaos inside and outside of the ICE detention center Delaney Hall today,” he wrote. “Detainees protesting the lack of due process, the disgusting food and poor treatment while their families and advocates stood outside calling for help.”
“Instead of engaging with me and others about the poor conditions, ICE sent in an armored vehicle and a line of armed agents that only poured gasoline on the fire,” he wrote. “Civilians were tackled and restrained, and agents fired pepper balls and spray into the crowd.”
Kim placed the blame for the situation squarely at the feet of the Trump administration. “What I witnessed and experienced today was shameful. Delaney Hall is a failure; it’s this administration’s failure,” he wrote. “The only way to make this right for our communities is to shut it down and make sure the failures we’ve seen never happen again.”
Kim’s state director, Paul Stuart Aronsohn, was also caught in the spray, The New Jersey Globe reported. Hours earlier, Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill had been turned away from the jail altogether. This was “raising serious questions about what they are trying to hide from public view,” Sherrill said.
The Department of Homeland Security was unrepentant. Its spokesperson, Lauren Biss, told NorthJersey.com that Sherrill’s visit was “a political stunt on Memorial Day.”
ICE officials insisted that detainees get clean water, food, and phones to call lawyers and family, and cast the demonstrators as agitators. New Jersey Republicans have accused Kim and Sherrill of staging a holiday photo-op instead of honoring the war dead.
Delaney Hall has been controversial since it opened in May 2025. Within days, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested outside. Four detainees broke out during a revolt over food last June. And Rep. LaMonica McIver was indicted for allegedly interfering with federal officers during a congressional oversight visit—she has pleaded not guilty.
The Daily Beast has contacted the DHS for comment.
