Only 1 NJ Prison Still Profits From ICE Contracts – It May Stay That Way

NEW JERSEY — Two years ago, New Jersey passed a landmark law that bans prisons from making deals to hold immigration detainees awaiting deportation. Now, that law may have lost some of its teeth after a federal judge struck down a key portion of it – and activists are hitting the streets to voice their outrage.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Robert Kirsch granted a preliminary injunction in favor of one of the largest private prison operators in the world – CoreCivic – which runs the Elizabeth Detention Center in Union County.

The prison has a unique distinction these days: it’s the only facility in New Jersey that is still making a profit by housing federal detainees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

New Jersey’s ban, which Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law in 2021, prohibits prisons in the state from inking new contracts with ICE or renewing old ones. The law didn’t terminate existing agreements, however, including CoreCivic’s deal to run the Elizabeth Detention Center.

ICE awarded CoreCivic its initial contract to operate the Elizabeth Detention Center in 2005 for a three-year period, and renewed the contract five times. The current contract – which was slated to expire on Aug. 31 – can now potentially be renewed again.

CoreCivic has filed a lawsuit that alleges the ban is unconstitutional and violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S Constitution, which gives the federal government power over state governments.

In July, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a statement of support for the company’s lawsuit, claiming that the contract is “crucial” because of the prison’s close proximity to Newark and JFK airports – both of which host deportation flights out of the country. The ICE facility in Pennsylvania is a four-hour drive from Newark Airport, which would reportedly create 12-hour days for officers.

Kirsch apparently agreed.

In his ruling, the judge said New Jersey’s law is a “dagger aimed at the heart of the federal government’s immigration enforcement.”

While he acknowledged that “the detention of any person raises health and safety concerns,” Kirsch said that enforcing the law would close the last remaining facility in New Jersey to which ICE has access. Notably, the Elizabeth Detention Center – which can hold 304 detainees – is the only facility that houses ICE detainees within 60 miles of New York City, he wrote.

ICE originally housed only “low-risk” noncitizens, such as those who have recently crossed the border and those with minor criminal offenses, at the prison. But after New Jersey passed its ban, the agency began to send medium and high-risk detainees to Elizabeth for up to 72 hours at a time.

“The result of any one of New Jersey's neighboring states passing a comparable law — let alone an ensuing domino effect to other states — would result in nothing short of chaos,” Kirsch wrote.

This “chaos” could extend to the family members and attorneys of detainees, who may find it harder to visit, the judge added.

New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin said the state will appeal the decision.

CoreCivic and the Elizabeth Detention Center have been the target of a steady wave of protests and rallies from local immigration advocates in recent years.

After Kirsch rendered his decision on Tuesday, activists and family members of immigrants blasted the move and implored for President Joe Biden to bypass the court’s decision and cut the prison’s ties with ICE once and for all.

Yanet Candelario of The Mami Chelo Foundation, who has spent time inside the walls of the Elizabeth Detention Center, said that when Biden was elected president, she was happy.

“I thought he would end the Trump era of terror, where children were separated from their parents and kept in cages like animals,” Candelario said. “I believed he would make a difference in a country where immigrants have fewer rights.”

“I don’t think Biden knows that people are dying in immigration detention because they have been denied medical attention, but I also expect him to keep his promises and end a system that denies us our humanity,” Candelario added.

On Wednesday, a crowd of activists and attorneys rallied against the latest court ruling in Newark, home to the Essex County Correctional Facility, which previously raked in tens of millions of dollars from holding ICE detainees until nixing its own contract in 2021. See Related: No More ICE Detainees In Essex County Prison

Prisons in Bergen and Hudson County also emptied their cells of immigration detainees in 2021 after the state ban crossed the finish line.

Gathering outside the Peter Rodino Federal Building on Broad Street, advocates shared stories about their own experiences at the Elizabeth Detention Center, which is located just a 20-minute drive away.

Participating groups included Abolish ICE NY/NJ, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Immigrant Rights Project of Newark, Casa Freehold, Cosecha New Jersey, Deportation & Immigration Response Equipo (DIRE) Support Services & Legal Services, Detention Watch Network, Elizabeth Catholic Worker, Faith in New Jersey, First Friends of New Jersey & New York, Haiti Solidarity Network of the North East, Interfaith Campaign for Just Closures, Latino Action Network, Lazos America Unida, The Mami Chelo Foundation, INC, Make the Road New Jersey, New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, Northern New Jersey Sanctuary Coalition, North New Jersey Democratic Socialists of America, Party for Socialism and Liberation – New Jersey, Pax Christi New Jersey, Trenton Anti-Violence Coalition, Unidad Latina en Acción NJ, Universal Unitarians Faith Action New Jersey, and Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center.

“While we are bitterly disappointed in today’s decision, we also know this is not the final step,” Amy Torres, a member of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, said prior to the rally.

Torres said advocates plan to keep taking to the streets to demand the shutdown of the Elizabeth Detention Center – something that Biden has the power to make happen tomorrow.

“New Jersey is a sanctuary state, and whether in the courts or in the streets, we will fight for our right to remain one,” Torres urged.

Kathy O’Leary, the region coordinator for Pax Christi New Jersey, said that Kirsch “spoke passionately” about his concerns for the “heart” of the federal detention system.

“What he fails to recognize is that the system that he is attempting to protect has no heart,” O’Leary criticized. “It cannot bleed and it cannot shed tears.”

“To the contrary, the millions of people who have been kept in ICE’s cages can and do,” she added.

Last week, 10 Congress members from New Jersey joined the debate, telling the U.S. Department of Justice to butt out of the conversation and respect the wishes of the people who live in the Garden State.

The lawmakers said that New Jersey’s law is in line with Biden’s 2020 campaign pledge to end the federal government’s use of privately operated criminal detention facilities.

“We are troubled that the Department of Justice's intervention could undermine that effort by continuing to take part in this lawsuit,” they continued in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The Congress members pointed out that the Elizabeth Detention Center has been accused of being home to several health and safety violations over the years. Read More: Maggots, Squalor For ICE Detainees At 'Inhumane' NJ Jails

The lawmakers added:

“CoreCivic, in contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has held hundreds of immigrants in poor conditions at EDC despite sustained protests and legal battles calling for a range of interventions, including improved conditions, closure of the facility, and freedom for detainees. Based on reports from detained individuals and legal advocates, inhumane conditions at EDC include a lack of proper air quality, sanitation violations, overcrowding, inadequate medical and mental health care, and incidents of retaliation and abusive treatment by guards and staff. Despite extensive complaints, lawsuits, protests, and calls for action, ICE and CoreCivic are seeking to renew their contract for the sixth time and extend operations at the EDC after the expiration of their current contract on August 31, 2023.”

“We ask the Biden administration and the Department of Justice to respect the democratically passed and signed laws and side with constituents over private interests,” the congress members wrote.

• See Related: New Jersey Immigrant Groups Bash Biden's Budget Proposal
• See Related: NJ Activists Say Biden's Playbook On Immigration Is Similar To Trump's

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