Two of the four detainees who escaped the Delaney Hall immigrant detention center in Newark during an uprising on June 12 have been apprehended, the FBI’s Newark Field Office has announced.
Joel Enrique Sandoval-Lopez and Joan Sebastian Castaneda-Lozada escaped after detainees, protesting insufficient food and other conditions, pushed down an interior wall. The incident took place after detainees allegedly had not been fed in 20 hours, and then were only give a small amount to eat, according to immigrant rights groups.
Sandoval-Lopez and Castaneda-Lozada and two other men were “unaccounted for” after the incident, said the Department of Homeland Security, which had offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to their capture.
The FBI’s Newark Field Office announced June 15 that the two men had been detained, but did not provide details on on where or how they were caught.
Sandoval-Lopez entered the United States from Honduras as a minor without legal permission, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Passaic Police arrested Sandoval for unlawful possession of a handgun on Oct. 3. He was arrested again on February 15 by Passaic Police for aggravated assault, authorities said.
Castaneda-Lozada, of Colombia, illegally entered the U.S. in 2022. Hammonton Police in South Jersey arrested him on May 15 for alleged burglary, theft and conspiracy to commit burglary.
People gather in opposition to ICE on Tuesday, Mar. 11, 2025, after ICE released a statement last week announcing the opening of Delaney Hall in Newark, NJ as a detention center.
Authorities continue to search for the two other escapees.
One of the escapees, Franklin Norberto Bautista-Reyes, was arrested May 3 by Wayne Township Police for aggravated assault, attempt to cause bodily injury, terroristic threats, and possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes. Originally from Honduras, authorities said he illegally entered the U.S. in 2021.
New York City Police arrested the other escapee, Andres Pineda-Mogollon, on April 25, for petit larceny. The Union Police Department arrested Pineda on May 21 for residential burglary, conspiracy residential burglary, and possession of burglary tools, according to DHS. He came from Colombia in 2023 and overstayed his visa, DHS alleged.
‘Inhumane’ conditions reported
Delaney Hall, operated by the private company GEO Group, has been mired in controversy since it reopened as an immigration detention center in May under a federal contract to provide 1,000 beds over a 15-year period. It was the first immigrant detention center to open during the second term of President Donald Trump, who has vowed to deport at least 11 million undocumented immigrants.
Newark officials claimed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement opened the facility without following building safety protocols. They had refused access for city officials to inspect the premises, allegedly violating municipal ordinances and state codes, said Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.
The New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, the state’s largest immigration coalition, alleged that detainees were not receiving meals between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. for days. The group also reported that pipes in the facility sprayed boiling water, while loved ones of those inside were denied visitation.
Ras Baraka speaks outside the federal courthouse in Newark on. May 15, 2025 after having appeared in court on a trespassing charge at Delaney Hall, an ICE detention center.
Sources inside the hall indicated that 50 inmates helped push down the wall of a unit after meals were delivered late. U.S. Sen. Andy Kim said he learned through conversations with facility administrators and ICE officials that the area where the group escaped was “essentially just drywall with some mesh inside,” leading to the outer wall.
“It shows just how shoddy of construction was here, what happens when we are paying for billions of dollars of for-profit prisons that are skirting the responsibilities that they have and try to pocket as much of that money as possible,” the senator said in the video. “What we’re seeing here is a lot of situations of the irresponsibility of what is happening here and why it is that we don’t want to see this facility here.”
GEO Group spokesperson Christopher Ferreira previously told NorthJersey.com that Delaney Hall had a valid certificate of occupancy issued by Newark and has complied with health and safety requirements, and that the attempt by the mayor’s office to stop the facility from opening was a political campaign to keep the federal government from arresting, detaining and deporting criminal immigrants.
The day after the men’s escape, vans were seen leaving Delaney Hall, apparently relocating some detainees to an undisclosed location.
Senator Cory Booker, in a a statement, called for immediate action to improver conditions and oversight.
“With serious security lapses, numerous reports of mistreatment by staff of detainees, complaints of persistent food shortages, and a troubling lack of transparency from facility administrators, it’s clear that GEO Group has shown it cannot — or will not — operate Delaney Hall humanely or safely,” Booker said.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Two Delaney Hall escapees back in custody, says FBI