More Oversight, No ICE At Essex County Prison, Activists Demand

NEWARK, NJ — A group of activists protested what they called “grotesque” conditions at Essex County Correctional Facility during the Board of Chosen Freeholders meeting in Newark on March 7, the latest in their series of calls for more oversight and less profiteering at the county-run prison.

The Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark earns tens of millions of dollars for housing federal ICE detainees and a mix of people serving time for criminal convictions, some of which come from out of state.

Local activists have launched repeated protests and rallies about the prison's contract with ICE in the recent past.

• See related article: Anti-ICE Christmas Carolers Crash Freeholder Meeting (VIDEO)
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On March 7, activists again demanded that the freeholders to end the county’s contract with ICE.

According to one of the protesters, Whitney Strub, the prison profits are a “betrayal of Essex County Democratic values.”

Another protester, Maplewood resident and Rutgers Newark graduate Robert Latz, spent his three minutes of public comment time discussing the details of a reply letter he received from the freeholders on March 5.

In that letter, Latz asked the freeholders to consider putting a cap on the number of detainees that can be held at Essex County Correctional Facility. He also asked county officials to limit the detainees to New Jersey residents only, and questioned if a portion of the profits could be used to pay for legal services for detainees. (Read the full letter below)

It's not just the county's relationship with ICE that has activists in an uproar.

During the March 7 meeting, activists pointed to a recent surprise inspection by the very agency that pays Essex County to house ICE detainees – the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – as an example of poor conditions at the prison.

During that inspection, federal officials allegedly found nauseating violations such as bloody leaks, “slimy lunch meat” and showers laced with mold.

“For dinner, we were served meatballs that smelled like fecal matter,” one inmate told inspectors.

• See related article: Jail Served Us Meatballs That Smelled Like Feces, NJ Inmate Says

"The Essex County Correctional Facility has a proven track record of providing safe and secure conditions for its inmates and officers," Essex County Correctional Facility Director Al Ortiz told Patch after the DHS report was released.

According to Ortiz, the prison has earned 100 percent compliance ratings from the State of New Jersey for the past 10 years, passed inspections by a variety of organizations and is the largest county jail in the United States to gain accreditation from the ACA, which demonstrates its commitment to providing the highest level of care.

"We understand the issues raised in the Inspector General's report and have taken steps to address and rectify the conditions," Ortiz said. "We are proud of our proactive approach to meet the needs of our detainees and the high standards of care that we have set for our facility."

Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. recently introduced a county budget that would rake in $42.7 million by housing federal inmates, immigration detainees and inmates at the Essex County Correctional Facility.

• See related article: Essex County's Prison Profits Will Continue Under Proposed Budget

The Essex County jail was one of three in New Jersey that received scathing condemnation for "inhumane" conditions in a February 2018 report from Human Rights First.

Detainees at the Essex facility said that they often run out of water in the units and that the water from the bathroom tap is undrinkable. "Outdoor recreation" at the jail is an indoor room with a barred-over skylight that allows some fresh air into the otherwise dark and enclosed space, the report stated.

• See related article: Maggots, Squalor For ICE Detainees At 3 'Inhumane' NJ Jails
• See related article: ICE Immigrant Detainee Dies In Essex County; Prisoner Death Toll Increases

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