A congressional hearing on immigration detention took a sharp turn last week when Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) pivoted from the subject at hand to challenge the sincerity of her Republican colleagues’ Christian faith.
Crockett, who serves as the ranking Democratic member on the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, directed Republicans who “claim to be Christian” to open their Bibles and read Ephesians 5:11. She then read the verse aloud: “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” She applied the passage broadly to Republican lawmakers, effectively labeling their immigration enforcement work as “works of darkness.” She did not name a specific Republican or point to a specific act that prompted the religious challenge.
The hearing, held July 22nd, was titled “False Narratives Surrounding Conditions at the Delaney Hall ICE Detention Center” and focused on the federal immigration facility in Newark, New Jersey. As originally reported, committee Republicans convened the hearing to examine how protests surrounding Delaney Hall had disrupted immigration enforcement operations and raised public safety concerns.
Witnesses included two former immigration officials and researchers from the Federation for American Immigration Reform, the Center for Immigration Studies, and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.
Much of the testimony directly challenged claims that conditions at the facility were dangerous or inhumane. Scott Mechkowski, a retired deputy director of ICE’s New York field office, testified that the facility has a capacity of 1,000 detainees but held 766 people on May 25th and 521 by June 15th. He also noted that a June 8th state health inspection found kitchen sanitation satisfactory, with no evidence of rodents or vermin.
Mechkowski also took aim at reports of a hunger strike at Delaney Hall. He cited commissary sales data showing purchases jumped from roughly $11,500 the week before May 26th to more than $30,000 the following week, arguing that spike contradicted public claims that detainees were refusing food. He testified that Delaney Hall operates under written national detention standards covering medical monitoring, food service, hygiene, and religious diets.
Andrew Arthur, a former immigration judge and fellow witness, described the facility as a 1,000-bed operation that opened for ICE detention on May 1st, 2025. He said protests intensified around May 22nd following reports of a hunger strike tied to concerns about medical care, food quality, hygiene supplies, and other conditions. Arthur confirmed that federal detention standards govern food, medical care, hunger strikes, hygiene, language assistance, and religious practices inside the facility.
Crockett’s religious commentary at the hearing came just eight days after she joined 27 other members of Congress in sending a letter demanding that ICE protect the religious practices of Muslim detainees. That July 14th letter requested access to Qurans, prayer mats, hijabs, designated prayer spaces, and halal meals at federal immigration facilities. “Individuals practicing their faith must be given reasonable accommodations, full stop,” the lawmakers wrote.
The contrast between her two positions drew immediate attention online, with a clip of her remarks posted by RNC Research circulating widely on social media.