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By Billal Rahman
Immigration Reporter
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A woman who was struck by a car outside a Father’s Day protest at the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility in Newark has told Newsweek she intends to take legal action against federal immigration authorities and the private prison contractor operating the site.
Video circulating on social media appears to show the moment of the collision. In the footage, the woman, Alex James, is twirling an upside-down American flag stands near an entrance gate as demonstrators gather nearby. A car drives toward the gate, striking James before continuing into the facility, while people shout and rush to assist her. Video of the incident circulated online from multiple angles.
James, a photographer and U.S. citizen, said her attorney is preparing to sue ICE along with the facility’s operator, GEO Group, after she was hit by a vehicle while standing near a gate during the demonstration. James described being struck by a red Dodge Challenger as it drove through the entrance, saying it was disorienting.
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"I registered the tumbling before I registered the hit to my body," James told Newsweek in an exclusive interview.
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James said she had traveled from Minnesota to Newark to deliver medical supplies and support protest medics, and described her participation as part of her humanitarian effort. She said she was holding an upside-down American flag at the time of the incident as a form of non-violent protest, explaining that it was intended as "a quiet, peaceful way of showing up."
Newark Public Safety Director Emanuel Miranda told Newsweek that police responded at approximately 5:07 p.m. Sunday to Doremus Avenue and Roanoke Avenue on a report of a pedestrian having been struck.
"Responding Officers located a woman who reported that while standing in front of the gate where drivers enter and exit Delaney Hall, she was waving a flag before she was struck by the driver of a red vehicle," Miranda said.
James was transported to University Hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries, Miranda said. The incident remains under investigation, authorities said.
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson told Newsweek that the vehicle involved "was not being driven by an ICE employee" and referred further questions to GEO Group.
Newsweek contacted GEO Group for comment on June 22 via email.
Eyewitness Durga Sreenivasan told Newsweek the atmosphere at the protest was peaceful before the incident and described the moment James was struck as "terrifying."
Sreenivasan said the incident occurred at about 1:52 p.m. Sunday "in front of the right gate of Delaney Hall." She said she was standing behind a car with her partner when James was struck.
A DHS spokesperson said that "rioters surrounded an employee’s vehicle, assaulted federal officers, interfered with a lawful arrest, and attempted to obstruct law enforcement operations." The spokesperson said one person was arrested after biting an officer and added that violence against law enforcement "will not be tolerated."
An immigrant rights group, said the gathering began as a vigil, with participants singing, playing music, and hanging neckties on the fence in tribute to detained fathers. The Father’s Day protest drew demonstrators calling for the release of fathers held at the facility.
About 75 attendees were gathered near a hospitality tent, with additional demonstrators positioned near the facility gates, according to activist group the Sussex Visibility Brigade.
The organizer said vehicles began moving through the entrance shortly afterward, around the time James was struck, and that some visitors, including family members of detainees, later left the area as tensions escalated and pepper spray was deployed.
"I saw a car go through out of the corner of my eye, but only looked over when I heard the impact," eyewitness Birdie Green, an organizer with the Sussex Visibility Brigade, told Newsweek.
"Attendees of the vigil who were understandably upset after witnessing the hit and run rushed forward without fully understanding the threat ICE posed," Green said.
According to the organizer, some demonstrators began throwing objects and yelling after the incident, and officers later deployed pepper spray as tensions grew. The organizer also said at least one person was detained during the confrontation.
"[James] was back out on the ground waving a flag again within hours," Green said.
James said she felt compelled to continue protesting after she was discharged from the hospital.
"They don’t get to win and they don’t get to take that away from us," she said.
Her attorney, James Cook, confirmed that legal proceedings are being prepared and said the case is still in its early stages.
Authorities have not confirmed further details about the driver or whether any charges have been filed. The investigation is ongoing, local officials said.
Delaney Hall, an ICE detention facility in Newark, has been the site of weeks of demonstrations by immigrant rights advocates raising concerns about conditions inside the center and calling for detainees’ release.
Some detainees previously told Newsweek they launched a hunger and labor strike in May to protest conditions and delays in their immigration cases, and alleged officers responded with pepper spray and force during a subsequent confrontation.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Cannon and Tony Phillips
Update 6/23/26, 11:47 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with a new headline and comment from Alex James and her attorney, James Cook.
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