Politics & Government
Essex County Activists Arrested Protesting ICE (VIDEO)
Essex County officers arrested 8 protesters when they blocked the door of a government building. "We won't be silent," the activists said.
ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A group of protesters clashed with police during an ICE-related demonstration in Newark last week. During the protest, Essex County sheriff’s officers arrested eight members of the organizing group, Resist the Deportation Machine, activists said.
On June 29, more than a dozen people ranging in age from 19 to 71-years-old gathered at the front doors of the Essex County Hall of Records in Newark to send a message: “We will not be silent.”
In particular, the protesters took aim at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, which contracts with ICE to house federal detainees. Calling the local prison a “concentration camp,” the protesters demanded that Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. and the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders immediately “stop doing business with ICE.”
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When a cadre of eight protesters including county executive hopeful Jay Arena blocked the entrance of the building and refused to move, Essex County sheriff’s officers arrested them, NJTV News reported. (Watch their video below)
According to organizers with Resist the Deportation Machine, aside from Arena, a Newark resident, the other seven arrested protesters hail from:
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- Bergenfield
- Montclair
- Newark
- Plainfield
- Warren
“We non-violently blocked the entrance to the building, saying that Essex County either had to stop doing business with ICE, or there would be no business as usual,” said one of the arrested protesters, Eric Lerner.
“By his actions, Joseph DiVincenzo made clear which side he is on: the side of Trump and ICE,” Lerner added.
According to a news release from the group, its members plan to appear at the Essex County Freeholders meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 11 at the Essex County Hall of Records, room 506. The activists are due for their first court appearance on Friday, July 13 at Newark Municipal Court, 31 Green Street.
- See related article: Essex County Candidate Vows To Fight ICE 'Deportation Machine'
- See related article: Newark Closes Green Street Jail: Suicides, Rats Reported
The Essex County jail was one of three that received scathing condemnation for "inhumane" conditions in a February report from nonprofit advocacy group Human Rights First. Alleged issues at the three jails includes maggot-infested food, suicide risks, a lack of clean underwear and medical treatment done on a "cost-benefit analysis."
- See related article: Maggots, Squalor For ICE Detainees At 'Inhumane' NJ Jails
- See related article: ICE Immigrant Detainee Dies In Newark (Prisoner Death Toll Increases)
Essex County has taken in millions of dollars in revenue from housing federal detainees at its Newark prison over the past years.
A proposed $725.9 million Essex County budget for 2018 was anticipated to generate $35.7 million by housing federal inmates, immigration detainees and inmates from Gloucester County."
- See related article: Proposed Essex County Budget Would Make Big Profits From Prisons
The annual prison profits have raised criticism from some residents.
"Essex County must not run on blood money," a local activist recently wrote. "The fact that the county profits from the unconstitutional detention of immigrants, because ICE pays for the beds, is not a valid argument for collaborating in the ICE deportation machine. The county could raise money by selling opioids as well, but that would not make it a wise policy."
- See related article: Essex County Group: End 'Deportation Machine,' No ICE Contract
In addition to the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, ICE has housed its New Jersey prisoners at Bergen County Jail, Delaney Hall Detention Facility, Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility and the Hudson County Correctional Facility, the agency's website states.
The Monmouth County Correctional Institution previously housed ICE inmates, but removed its last such detainee in 2013.
Hudson County recently severed a controversial memorandum of agreement with ICE, ending the Hudson County Correctional Facility's ties with the federal immigration agency's Section 287(g) program. The decision was celebrated as an important victory by local civil rights activists.
- See related article: Hudson County Won't Help ICE Flag Jailed Immigrants Under 287(G)
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Photo: YouTube / NJTV News
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