Maggots, Squalor For ICE Detainees At 'Inhumane' NJ Jails: Report

You’re an undocumented immigrant arrested in North Jersey. You’re scared… alone… completely at the mercy of the legal procedures and prison walls that loom before you.

And then come the maggots.

According to a recent report from nonprofit advocacy group Human Rights First, immigrant detainees at the three main prisons the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) uses to detain non-citizens in New Jersey have been languishing in stomach-churning, “inhumane” conditions.

Alleged issues at the jails - the Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility and the Essex County and Hudson County Correctional facilities - include maggot-infested food, suicide risks, a lack of clean underwear and medical treatment done on a “cost-benefit analysis.”

Read the full report here.

Patch reached out to ICE for comment on the report and conditions at the three jails and received the following reply from a spokesperson on Wednesday:

“While the agency has not had an opportunity to review the report, ICE remains committed to ensuring that all individuals in our custody are held and treated in a safe, secure and humane manner and that they have access to legal counsel, visitation, recreation and quality medical, mental health and dental care.”

But according to Human Rights First, ICE isn’t living up to its promise. Visitors to the three prisons said that they spoke with more than 100 immigrant detainees, who told them about a plethora of alleged mistreatment:

• “Individuals at all three facilities reported that food, particularly meat and rice, is often raw, spoiled, or expired. One individual at Elizabeth reported that he has received food with worms or maggots in it.”
• “Several individuals at Elizabeth said they found worms or maggots in the shower area on multiple occasions”
• “The Hudson facility has a high number of individuals with serious mental health concerns, as demonstrated by the three suicides that have occurred at the facility since January 2016 and the 12 mental health hospitalizations that have occurred in the last six months”
• “Detainees at all three facilities reported serious medical needs left unaddressed. These claims were supported by the statement of an ICE officer at one of the facilities, who said the decision to provide medical care is a ‘cost-benefit analysis.’”
• “Women at the Elizabeth facility expressed shame over being given only two or three pairs of underwear for the week, which made them feel dirty, particularly when they have their period… Women at Elizabeth and Hudson also reported receiving an insufficient number of sanitary pads, leaving them no other choice but to purchase them at the commissary for high prices”
• “Detainees at the Essex facility stated that they often run out of water in the units and that the water from the bathroom tap is undrinkable”
• “At Hudson, several detained individuals who work in the kitchens complained that the food carts, trays, and dishes are frequently left unwashed, and that when they are cleaned, dirty water is used to wash them”
• “At the Elizabeth and Essex facilities, so-called ‘outdoor recreation’ is an indoor room with a barred-over skylight that allows some fresh air into the otherwise dark and enclosed space. At the Hudson Facility, outdoor recreation takes place in an enclosed area with, but has one wall open to the outside, which provides both fresh air and sunlight.”
• “In the Elizabeth facility, toilets are separated only by ‘privacy walls’ — roughly three-foot-tall barriers — that easily allow others to observe while individuals are using the bathroom”
• “Several individuals who have been detained long-term at Elizabeth and Hudson reported that they avoid seeking dental care as the dentist only performs extractions, rather than providing treatment for basic dental issues, including cavities”
• “At the Hudson facility, we observed one woman using a bra as a sling for a clavicle fracture after being told that proper arm slings were a ‘suicide risk’”
• “Many asylum seekers and immigrants remain in unnecessary, lengthy, and prolonged detention - some for over a year - due to a lack of access to viable release mechanisms, including parole”

The jails’ staff also allegedly contribute to the demeaning conditions, some regularly hurling racist vitriol at the detainees and treating them like “animals, dogs, criminals and hoes,” the report states.

According to Human Rights First:

• A nurse at the Elizabeth facility allegedly discriminates against non-English speakers, telling them, “If you want to be in this country, you have to learn to speak English.” The same nurse also allegedly threatened one individual after he asked for medication, telling him, “I will give you pills until you explode.”
• At the Essex facility, detainees said that some officers threaten their families with harm. One individual said that an officer told him, “I’ll go to your mom and get her pregnant and then get your daughter pregnant.”
• One individual at the Essex facility reported than an officer told him, “You are immigrants… You don’t belong here… I’ll be glad when Trump deports you.”

It’s possible that up to 1,700 immigrant detainees may be living in these depressing conditions, the report states.

The Elizabeth facility is operated by CoreCivic – formerly known as Corrections Corporation of America, the largest prison contractor in the country – and has the capacity to hold 304 people. The Essex and Hudson facilities are larger; each of the county-run jails rents out space to hold about 700 ICE detainees in addition to their other prisoners.

• See related article: Proposed Essex County Budget Would Make Big Profits From Prisons

Some of New Jersey's ICE detainees may be in for a long wait before they see the outside of a prison, the report stated. Visitors met one detainee at the Essex facility who had been there for 18 months.

“There are no days that I don’t cry here,” a woman at the Elizabeth facility said.

• See related article: 1 In 10 New Jersey Inmates Will Likely Die In Jail, Report Says
• See related article: ICE Immigrant Detainee Dies In Essex County; Prisoner Death Toll Increases
• See related article: Embattled Prison Company Keeps Getting N.J. Contracts
• See related article: Dozens Protest At Hudson County Jail After Immigrant Dies (PHOTOS)

Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site here. Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com

File photo by Jawaid Stationwala: Rally at the Hudson County Correctional Facility in 2017