Photojournalist pushed by ICE officer at New Jersey immigration protest

Photojournalist Cristina Panagi was shoved by a federal officer while covering a protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its treatment of detainees in Newark, New Jersey, on May 27, 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 the allegations of detainee mistreatment.

Panagi told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that as the area outside Delaney Hall became increasingly crowded, officers began pushing members of the press. An ICE officer then shoved her, even though she was clearly identifiable as a journalist by her media credentials and markings on her backpack.

“It was clear he was just trying to block us from being able to move,” she said, referring to her efforts to freely document the protest. “The aggression was really not anything I’ve ever seen before.”

Officers also fired pepper spray into the crowd, and Panagi said the chemical irritant seeped beneath her protective goggles, causing her forehead to burn. At a protest the day before, Panagi was also pepper-sprayed by a federal 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.