LINDEN—Yeison Cortes Vasquez had pulled to the shoulder to check his phone on March 20. The ICE agents that stopped behind him didn't ask about the Walmart Spark delivery route running on his dashboard. They asked for papers. The 46-year-old Colombian national who leads Bible study at The Gathering Place church in Elizabeth couldn't produce them. He had overstayed a tourist visa from 2016, they said. He spent 18 days at Delaney Hall in Newark, a facility that operates under an active code-violation lawsuit while challenging its municipal occupancy permit.

Arrest in Linden During Delivery Route

The arrest location matters. Linden sits between Elizabeth in Union County and Newark in Essex County. It maintains its own police force and ICE coordination protocols distinct from the Union County Sheriff. Yet ICE transported Vasquez not to the Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility that looms over this city, but to Delaney Hall in Newark. That facility holds nearly 800 detainees in a space designed for 1,000. Congressional investigators found seven medical staff for those 800 people during an April 2 visit.

Federal court records show Vasquez filed a habeas petition five days after his arrest, on March 25. That dual-track posture, with immigration court removal proceedings running parallel to constitutional challenge, indicates a complex legal battle. The showdown contradicts ICE's initial framing of the case as a routine visa overstay.

Vasquez was delivering for Walmart Spark, a gig-platform that connects independent contractors to last-mile delivery routes. Walmart Inc., which operates the platform, is currently under federal investigation regarding driver compensation practices. Under New Jersey's strict ABC test for worker classification, the platform treats drivers as independent contractors. They therefore lack unemployment coverage, workers compensation or paid sick leave.

Code Violations at Newark Detention Facility

For eighteen days, Vasquez remained at Delaney Hall. The 1,000-bed facility opened last May in Newark's industrial ward, under a fifteen-year approximately $1 billion contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. GEO Group, the publicly traded operator, earns approximately $60 million in first-year annualized revenues from the arrangement.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has positioned his opposition to the facility as a human rights issue. The city sued GEO Group in state court, alleging that the facility operates without a valid Certificate of Continued Occupancy. Newark Engineering Director Dolores Martinez Wooden filed an affidavit documenting unpermitted electrical work and dormant HVAC systems dating to the facility's 2017 closure. She also noted that elevators lack certification, a deficiency that creates "a life safety hazard" preventing safe evacuation. 

A federal judge in March denied GEO Group's attempt to block municipal inspections. The company maintains that ICE contract provisions grant federal agencies exclusive control over facility access.

Congressional Welfare Check Finds Overcrowding

On April 2, Representatives Rob Menendez of New Jersey's Eighth District and Adriano Espaillat of New York's Thirteenth District conducted a coordinated constituency service at Delaney Hall, in Menendez’s district. The welfare check was performed in coordination with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus communications office. It occurred hours before a scheduled protest outside the facility.

The lawmakers specifically looked for Vasquez. They found him housed in a ten-person cell. Six detainees in that unit exhibited respiratory symptoms; the lawmakers reported seven medical staff for approximately 800 detainees. The visitors noted allegations that Vasquez had been denied a Bible for more than a week. U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials disputed this claim in an April 11 statement, stating that ICE facilities do not deny detainees access to religious texts.

Vazquez Currently Released on Bond

Vasquez was released on bond with GPS monitoring on April 11. He returned to Sunday services at The Gathering Place's Elizabeth church on April 12. He told congregants through a translator that "God had a purpose" for his detention.

Rev. Gabriel Salguero, who serves as both the senior pastor of The Gathering Place's central church in Orlando and the president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, described the congregation's emotional response through a statement. Vasquez's release, the Coalition stated, provided "a testimony of hope, justice, and the power of faithful advocacy." The group noted that ICE operations were "NOT only a policy issue, it is a moral crisis impacting the very heart of the Church and thousands of families."

ICE officials have stated publicly that Vasquez entered the United States in 2016 on a tourist visa that expired that same year. DHS officials initially told congressional investigators they expected deportation proceedings to proceed. Subsequent reporting indicates that Vasquez is pursuing adjustment of status or asylum claims. That legal avenue would explain the habeas petition filing and subsequent bond release.

ICE's operational pattern structurally fragments accountability across municipal borders. The arrest occurred in Linden. The detention occurred in Newark. The legal proceedings are in federal court. This fragmentation complicates local oversight and transparency, as designed.

Related Articles

• DOJ Sues NJ Gov. Mikie Sherrill Over ICE Executive Order 12
• Bill Prohibits Employment of Certain Former ICE Employees in NJ State and Local Positions
• Four Arrested in Alleged Immigration Court Scam Targeting Migrants in New Jersey

Sources

• U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, Case 3:26-cv-02185, "Yeison Cortes Vasquez v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security" (March 25, 2026)

• Federal Trade Commission, "Walmart Agrees to $100 Million Judgment to Settle FTC, States' Charges Over Deceptive Earnings Claims Related to the Company's Spark Driver Delivery Service" (February 26, 2026)

• New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, "Attorney General Platkin, Labor Commissioner Asaro-Angelo Sue Amazon and its Logistics Network for Misclassification of Flex Delivery Drivers" (October 20, 2025)

• The GEO Group Inc., "The GEO Group Awarded 15-Year Contract by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement" (February 27, 2025)

• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Contract 70CDCR25D00000007 (February 26, 2025)

• New Jersey Monitor, "Advocates gather outside Newark migrant jail for pastor detained by ICE" (April 2, 2026)

• CBS News New York, "New Jersey pastor detained by ICE weeks before Easter" (April 2, 2026)

• CBS News New York, "N.J. pastor returns to Sunday service after being released by ICE. Here's what he experienced" (April 13, 2026)

• Congressional Hispanic Caucus, "Espaillat, Menendez Conduct Welfare Check on New Jersey Pastor Detained During Holy Week" (April 2, 2026)

• NorthJersey.com, "Asylum or removal? NJ congressman and ICE differ on pastor's prospects" (April 16, 2026)

• Superior Court of New Jersey, Essex County, "Verified Complaint: City of Newark v. The GEO Group Inc.," Docket ESX-L-002510-25 (March 31, 2025)

• Univision 41 WXTv, "Pastor hispano fue detenido mientras trabajaba en Nueva Jersey" (April 1, 2026)

• U.S. Department of Homeland Security, "Statement on Yeison Cortes Vasquez Detention" (April 11, 2026)

• Gabriel Salguero, President, National Latino Evangelical Coalition, Statement via CBS News New York (April 13, 2026)

• Yeison Cortes Vasquez, The Gathering Place Church, Elizabeth, NJ, Statement via Translator to CBS News New York (April 11, 2026)