Norma Bowe had set up her mobile health clinic outside Delaney Hall in Newark on May 25 when, she says, two masked federal agents threw her to the ground as she tried to help a young woman caught up in a confrontation with officers. She landed face-first on the concrete sidewalk, and the aftermath, she says, included a concussion, a fractured kneecap, torn meniscus tissue and bruising around her left eye.
Bowe, a registered nurse and public-health professor at Kean University, has run a free mobile clinic for undocumented and uninsured people outside Delaney Hall most weekends, according to ACLU of New Jersey, which describes her as a grandmother, professor and registered nurse. Videos of the scene captured from multiple angles appear to show Bowe landing face-first on the sidewalk after being shoved by an officer, according to The 19th. The outlet reports that the resulting injuries included a concussion, a fractured kneecap, medial meniscus tears and bruising to her left eye orbit, as Bowe described them.
As reported by NJ.com, Bowe alleges that two masked agents threw her forward, sending her crashing to the ground, outside Delaney Hall on May 25. The ACLU of New Jersey has since filed a Federal Tort Claims Act claim against the federal government on her behalf, alleging assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress and seeking $500,000 in damages, the site reports.
A Notice of Claim, Not Yet a Lawsuit
That filing is a notice of claim, a precursor to the filing of a lawsuit, according to the New Jersey Monitor. Under the process, the federal government has up to six months to respond before the ACLU can move to escalate the matter into actual litigation if the claim is denied or ignored.
Bowe's case is one of 54 claims filed by ACLU affiliates in 17 states and Washington, D.C., the same report notes, part of a coordinated push on behalf of people who say they were harmed by federal law enforcement during immigration operations. The confrontation outside Delaney Hall unfolded as more than 300 people detained inside were reportedly participating in a hunger and labor strike, according to The 19th.
Delaney Hall's Turbulent Reopening
Delaney Hall reopened in May 2026 to house more than 1,000 people, operated by GEO Group under a 15-year, $1bn federal contract, according to seed reporting from The Guardian. The Guardian's reporting, by Erika Hayasaki, also details that detainees went on a hunger strike over rotten food, bad-tasting water and inadequate supplies, and that at least seven detainees were part of that strike, while others reportedly lacked access to medications, toilet paper and menstrual products.
The facility has drawn scrutiny well beyond Bowe's case. New Jersey officials sued GEO Group seeking a court order granting state health inspectors access to Delaney Hall, according to ABC News. State health inspectors who visited the facility on May 28 were barred from inspecting crucial areas, including the medical unit, sleeping areas, and bathing and toileting areas, the outlet reports. The lawsuit, per New Jersey's governor's office, asked a court to order GEO Group to allow the state Department of Health full access to Delaney Hall for a complete inspection under state law.
A Wider Pattern of Alleged Misconduct
Bowe's allegations land amid a broader documented pattern. An ACLU review of more than 1,200 immigration-enforcement incidents across eight states found that over 400 involved misconduct by immigration agents, according to the ACLU. That report documented 418 instances in which agents pushed, shoved, tackled or pinned people, and 437 incidents involving likely racial profiling, identifying 155 U.S. citizens affected by detention, targeting or law-enforcement misconduct.
Medical care inside detention facilities has also come under sustained scrutiny. Hundreds of detainees across at least 33 states allege in federal lawsuits that facilities failed to provide adequate medical care, according to the Associated Press. More than 75,000 immigrants were being detained by ICE as of mid-January, compared with about 40,000 a year earlier, the AP reports, and detainees described delayed or missing medications for conditions including high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease and HIV. The Department of Homeland Security reported that 51 people had died in ICE detention since the start of the Trump administration's second term, per the same AP account. ICE has said its national detention standards require facilities to provide comprehensive medical, dental and mental-health care from the time people arrive at a facility and throughout their custody, according to ICE.
Legal Road Ahead Is Narrow
Suing the federal government over alleged misconduct by its agents is not straightforward. Most people must first file a claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which functions as a negligence claim against the United States, is decided by a judge rather than a jury, and does not entitle claimants to punitive damages. Claimants must then wait up to six months for a federal response before any lawsuit can proceed.
Not every similar case has gone the claimant's way. A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit alleging that ICE agents violated protesters' constitutional rights during Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities, according to CBS News Minnesota. That lawsuit had been filed by the ACLU of Minnesota on behalf of nine people, a labor union and a news organization, alleging violations of the First and Fourth Amendments, the outlet reports.
For Bowe, the path forward remains an administrative one for now — a notice of claim awaiting a federal response, not yet a courtroom fight. She has said she intends to keep running her mobile clinic outside Delaney Hall and to continue pursuing accountability through the claims process already underway.
