Former U.S. Border Patrol commander-at-large Greg Bovino publicly rallied behind Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Friday, urging them to “give them hell and live the moment!!” as tensions flared outside the Delaney Hall immigration detention center in New Jersey. The facility has come under intense scrutiny following clashes between federal officers and protesters this week.
In a social media post, Bovino wrote, “ICE Agents at Delaney, hang in there. You have the world watching and supporting your efforts to hold the line.” He added that the “Mean Green Team” was sending support. Bovino retired from the agency earlier this year after a demotion tied to the fatal shootings of two individuals by federal agents during the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota.
The protests escalated after New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill (D) was denied entry to the facility. Demonstrators are pressing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for answers about alleged mistreatment of detainees. Sherrill released a video on Friday stating she is “continuing to take every action” to secure a health department inspection of the private facility and ultimately close it. “I’ll also keep calling on everyone there now, especially ICE, to de-escalate the situation, to act humanely, to protest peacefully and to respect the laws and the constitution of the United States,” she said.
Senator Andy Kim (D-N.J.) told CNN he experienced eye irritation after DHS agents fired pepper balls at a crowd on Monday. “I tried my best to get in between the ICE agents and the crowd as the ICE convoy decided to just go ahead and plow through the crowd, which was absolutely just so dangerous of an action that they were doing,” Kim said. He noted he was not directly hit, and DHS claimed no protester was directly struck. “But more broadly, this is something that was avoidable,” Kim added. “We were trying to find a way to be able to move forward that wasn’t going to escalate in this way, but ICE decided that they just had enough and they were just going to move ahead.”
The situation mirrors broader tensions over immigration enforcement. In a related development, the DOJ has sued four states for refusing to provide DHS agents with confidential license plates, highlighting ongoing friction between federal and state authorities over immigration operations.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin posted on Friday evening that immigration officers sustained injuries after a protester bit them on Thursday. “Last night, a violent rioter savagely kicked and bit ICE law enforcement officers outside of Delaney Hall. Today, this violent agitator is being charged,” Mullin wrote. “The Trump Administration will ALWAYS stand with our federal law enforcement officers. Anyone who assaults a law enforcement officer will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Meanwhile, lawmakers continue to demand transparency. Governor Sherrill’s blocked visit echoes earlier incidents where officials were denied access to detention centers, as covered in reports on her exclusion from the facility during a hunger strike. Kim, a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, warned of a “heightened level of danger” in New Jersey, calling for de-escalation.
The standoff at Delaney Hall underscores the volatile intersection of immigration policy, law enforcement, and public protest, with both sides digging in as the facility remains a flashpoint for national debate.
