7 Hudson County Clergy Sue Freeholders Over ICE Contract

HUDSON COUNTY, NJ — A group of Hudson County clergy members have launched a lawsuit against the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders, blasting their recent decision to renew a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

On Monday, the ACLU of New Jersey – which is representing the religious leaders – accused the freeholders of violating the state’s Open Public Meetings Act, otherwise known as the “Sunshine Law,” when they carried out an unexpected vote on July 12.

During that meeting, the board voted 5-2 to renew an intergovernmental services agreement with ICE to house federal prisoners at the Hudson County Correctional Facility in Kearny. Freeholders William O’Dea and Joel Torres were the sole “no” votes.

• See related article: Hudson County Renews ICE Contract At 'Inhumane' Jail

The resolution to authorize the contract was buried deep in the agenda - item #32 out of 49 – and was listed as "carried." Hence, the vote came as a surprise to many, including Freeholder Torres, who voted no on the contract partly because he only got a copy himself the night before the meeting, WNYC reported.

Several immigrants' rights advocates in New Jersey immediately blasted the decision to renew the contract at the jail, which has been called “inhumane” by nonprofit advocacy group Human Rights First.

• See related article: Maggots, Squalor For ICE Detainees At 'Inhumane' NJ Jails: Report

According to the court complaint, the seven religious leaders involved in the lawsuit are:

• Rev. Thomas Murphy - Resides in Jersey City; serves as rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Jersey City
• Rev. Gary Commins - Resides in Bayonne; serves as associate priest at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and Church of the Incarnation in Jersey City
• Ashraf Eisa - Resides in Jersey City, Hudson County; serves as board member of the Islamic Center of Jersey City
• Rev. William Henkel - Resides in Secaucus; served as pastor at the First Reformed Church of Secaucus and is a member of the Reformed Church of America
• Rev. Frances Teabout - Resides in Roselle; serves as pastor at the Open Door Worship Center in Jersey City
• Rev. Elaine Ellis Thomas - Resides in Hoboken; serves as rector at the All Saints Episcopal Parish in Hoboken.
• Rev. Laurie Jean Wurm - Resides in Maplewood; serves as Rector at Grace Church Van Vorst in Jersey City

On Monday, the ACLU-NJ and seven clergy members accused the freeholders of misleading the public to believe the issue would not be decided until a later meeting.

The ACLU-NJ wrote:

“The Hudson County freeholders on July 10 agreed unanimously to postpone discussion and voting on a resolution to reauthorize the county jail’s contract to house immigrant detainees, the subject of intense public opposition and advocacy, until the next month’s meeting. The board publicly announced the vote was postponed by publishing an advance agenda of the July 12 meeting with the postponement noted and informing people who arrived early to the meeting that the vote was postponed. However, after the meeting began, the board added the ICE contract back onto the agenda and rapidly voted to renew the contract, over the vocal opposition of two individual freeholders and those activists who happened to attend.”

Anna Brown, a Hudson County activist and university professor with a long history of advocating for immigrants’ rights, was one of the attendees at the July 12 meeting. According to the ACLU:

“Notation of the postponement was listed on the agenda she received and, when she asked a county employee to clarify, [Brown] was told the vote was postponed to a future meeting. Ms. Brown emailed a 224-member listserv of anti-detention activists with this information and initially left the meeting before it even began.”

Patch reached out to Hudson County and the freeholder board seeking comment about the lawsuit. We will include any reply we receive in this article.

According to the ACLU, the county has a long history of detaining immigrants for federal authorities:

• “Since before the United States even created the agency called ICE, Hudson County has had a contract with the federal government to house immigrant detainees at the Hudson County Correctional Center. Entered into by Hudson County, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (the predecessor agency to ICE), the previous contract took effect on January 1, 2003 and expired on January 1, 2018. Over the course of the fifteen-year period, Hudson County has detained thousands of immigrants who are booked into the jail under ICE custody, often in removal proceedings.”
• “On January 2, 2018, Hudson County’s contract with ICE technically expired according to its terms. Nevertheless, the county continued to house some 800 immigrant detainees on that day and any given day thereafter.”
• “Through December 2017, ICE paid Hudson County $77 per detainee per day. From January 1 through May 31, 2018, the bed/day rate increased to $110.”
• “During the period from June 2017 to March 2018, six people died in custody at the jail. The first death was in immigration detention and, of the five others, four were by suicide.”

NJ SUNSHINE LAW: ‘THE PUBLIC’S RIGHT’

ACLU-NJ Staff Attorney Tess Borden, who filed the lawsuit in Hudson County Superior Court, said that the Sunshine Law safeguards the public’s right to bear witness to decisions that affect their lives and communities.

“The Board of Chosen Freeholders violated that law – and just as importantly, the public trust – by making a decision of enormous public importance in the darkness,” Borden charged. “A process that intentionally misleads the public and shields government from public scrutiny is unlawful and undemocratic.”

Rev. Thomas Murphy, rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Jersey City, said that it was "unthinkable" to deliberately exclude the public on an issue that affects people’s lives so directly.

“The people of Hudson County – which sits beneath the Statue of Liberty, the embodiment of freedom throughout the world – deserve to have a say in one of the most important decisions the county government has the power to make,” Murphy said.

Both Jersey City and Hoboken have unanimously passed municipal resolutions condemning the process by which the July 12 vote occurred, and have urged the board to invoke a 60-day opt-out clause to terminate the ICE contract.

The new county contract with ICE came just months on the heels of a decision to stop participating in the controversial 287(g) program with the federal agency, which helped the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to "flag" any arrested foreign-born individuals brought to the jail for potential deportation.

Local civil rights activists applauded the decision to sever ties with 287(g), hailing it as a new direction for immigrant rights in a county that reportedly had 104,565 foreign-born residents in 2017… the most in New Jersey.

• See related article: Hudson County Won't Help ICE Flag Jailed Immigrants Under 287(G)
• See related article: This Hudson County Town Has Most Immigrants In NJ, Report Says

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File photo by Jawaid Stationwala (protest at the Hudson County Correctional Facility, June 2017)