ICE agents threw a nurse to the ground during Delaney Hall protest, fracturing her kneecap

On Memorial Day, May 25, 2026, masked federal ICE agents shoved Dr. Norma Bowe, a Kean University nursing professor and registered nurse who has spent the past year running a volunteer mobile health clinic out of an RV near the Delaney Hall ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey, to the ground during clashes between federal agents and demonstrators outside the facility. Bowe, wearing a stethoscope, said she moved to help a young woman she saw ICE agents dragging across the pavement, pulling off the woman's shirt in the process, when two masked agents wearing gear marked "POLICE" and "ICE" shoved her with enough force that she flew through the air and crashed to the ground, striking her head on the concrete and landing on her face and knee. She suffered a fractured kneecap, a torn meniscus, and a head injury, and continues to experience headaches, trouble sleeping, and cognitive effects two months later.

The incident occurred three days into a hunger and labor strike by roughly 300 detainees at the privately run, GEO Group-operated Delaney Hall, during a period of repeated clashes between federal agents and protesters outside the facility, including the pepper-spraying of U.S. Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) at the same location that same day. Bowe's account is detailed in an eight-page notice of claim -- a required precursor to a Federal Tort Claims Act lawsuit -- filed by the ACLU of New Jersey, one of 54 such claims filed by ACLU affiliates in 17 states and Washington, D.C. on behalf of people alleging violence, abuse, or neglect by federal immigration agents. Bowe is seeking $500,000 in damages. ICE did not respond to New Jersey Monitor's request for comment.