‘ICE Must Go’: Activists Can’t Stomach Newark School Contracts With NJ Food Vendor

NEWARK, NJ — It’s a deal they can’t stomach.

Immigration advocates continue to pressure the Newark Board of Education to cut ties with a company that they are accusing of “feeding the deportation machine” by supplying food to federal detainees at Delaney Hall.

Their campaign is targeting Driscoll Foods, one of the largest independent foodservice distributors in the Northeast.

Activists want Newark – the largest public school district in the state – to give nearly $12 million worth of contracts to another company when they come up for renewal on June 30.

School board members and district administrators have said the situation isn’t so cut-and-dry, reporting that their hands are tied by state and federal procurement laws. Administrators also say the contracts were awarded to the company deemed “most responsive, responsible and advantageous to the district” – which does not select vendors based on political reasons.

Delaney Hall has seen a wave of controversy since reopening, including allegations of poor treatment of detainees and visitors, several arrests involving demonstrators, federal charges against the city’s mayor and a U.S. congresswoman, a high-profile prison escape, and a detainee who died in federal custody.

The 1,000-bed prison is the first federal detention center to open under President Donald Trump’s second term. Its owner, the GEO Group – one of the largest private prison companies in the nation – was awarded a 15-year contract that it valued at $1 billion to run the new detention center last year.

Advocates recently sent a letter to Driscoll Foods, demanding that the company terminate any existing contract with the GEO Group. It was signed by GWD Indivisible, New Jersey DSA Immigrant Justice Working Group, Cooper River Indivisible, NJ Voters Want More Say, and Plainfields Area Indivisible.

Representatives from Driscoll haven’t responded to media questions about the allegations.

The #DitchDriscollFoods campaign has included both online petitioning and in-person activism.

In January, advocates showed up at a Newark Board of Education meeting to push for more action, rallying outside McKinley Elementary School beforehand. Several people urged the board to end its contracts with Driscoll during the public comment portion of the meeting (watch video footage here).

Board president Hasani Council responded to the comments from the public, saying that the district is required to follow state law on bidding its contracts – which go to the “lowest responsible bidder” that has registered as a vendor.

Josephine Garcia said the board has heard the concerns from the community and doesn’t “take them lightly.”

“We were a little taken back tonight and how we were going to navigate this conversation,” she said. “But we – the board of education – wholeheartedly care about our Hispanic and immigrant communities.”

Undeterred, activists said they plan to continue attending school board meetings – which they did on Feb. 26.

More than a dozen advocates supporting the campaign against Driscoll spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, urging the board to give the contracts to another company and bashing both ICE and Delaney Hall.

“This detention center’s existence threatens our community – period,” said Mary Rizzo. “The fact that Delaney Hall exists harms the City of Newark, it harms the students that go to your school, it harms the parents, it harms their families.”

“There is no reason why the Newark Board of Education should support a company that is profiting from human suffering and misery with taxpayer money,” Rizzo insisted.

“As a parent, I don’t want my kids being fed at their school by those who do business with racist secret police who snatch our neighbors and immiserate families,” said another speaker, Geoff Johnson.

• See Related: Anti-ICE Activists Tell School Board To Cut Ties With NJ Food Company

In response, the district’s business administrator Valerie Wilson, told attendees that Newark doesn’t select vendors based on “political or unrelated business activities.”

“Vendors must be selected through a competitive procurement process to ensure fairness, compliance and continuity of service,” Wilson said. “Does the district endorse all business practices of its vendors? No. The district's role is to procure services that meet legal safety and operational requirements to serve students.”

Wilson said the district’s food contracts – including those awarded to Driscoll – are competitively procured in compliance with the New Jersey public school contract law and United States Department of Agriculture requirements.

“Contracts were awarded to vendors deemed most responsive, responsible and advantageous to the district based on price compliance and operational capacity,” Wilson said.

The vendor pool that supplies product to schools is thinned by both federal and state regulations, she said, pointing to limits on sugar and other nutritional guidelines. Other requirements for companies include the ability to make frequent deliveries, and being able to track and trace products.

Wilson said Driscoll Foods is a Jersey-based company that “met all procurement and regulatory requirements at the time of award.”

Bids from other companies were rejected for various reasons, Wilson said. One vendor offered an “unapproved alternative of inferior nutritional value” compared to what the district requested. A vendor bidding on a contract for fresh fruits and vegetables required a minimum order delivery per location. Another vendor failed to provide a mandatory child nutrition label.

“We have a responsibility to ensure uninterrupted access to nutritious, compliant meals for students, while adhering to public contracting law,” Wilson said.

The explanation didn’t sit well with activists, who say that “collaborating with ICE to terrorize immigrant families is not a ‘political activity.’”

A spokesperson with the Ditch Driscoll Foods campaign told Patch that its members are “disgusted” with the response from the school board.

“Over the last two months, dozens of people have spoken at and rallied outside board meetings to ask the board to reconsider their collaboration with this company in light of the harm that ICE enforcement and detention is causing in communities like Newark and around the country,” activists said.

“This is not about politics, it's about morality and protecting Newark students and their families,” activists continued. “More than one-third of Newark's residents are immigrants whose lives are threatened by Delaney Hall, which can't exist without suppliers like Driscoll Foods. We urge the board to reconsider these contracts, to reopen the bidding process rather than renew the contracts when they expire in June and to publicly request that Driscoll Foods stop profiting from detention.”

• Related: 2 Prison Companies With NJ Ties May Score Big Profits From Trump Deportations
• Related: New Tech Tracks Immigrants For ICE, Protesters Tell NJ To Dump Palantir Stock
• Related: Prisons, Profits, Protests: Controversy Rages Over ICE Detention Center In New Jersey
• Related: ICE Plans To Lease Office Space In Affluent Essex County Suburb, Report Says

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