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Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Activists fear Union County jail could become new migrant detention center
Union County officials are proposing to sell the building that contains the county jail, which has been largely empty for years. (Photo by New Jersey Monitor) As federal immigration officials are eyeing New Jersey as a site to expand detention capacity, immigration advocates say they fear Union County's proposal to sell its jail could result in the facility becoming a new migrant detention center. The Union County Board of Commissioners will vote Thursday night on two measures that would allow the county to take steps to sell the jail property because it is 'no longer needed for public use.' The county closed most operations at the jail in 2021. While the agenda for Thursday's meeting doesn't explicitly say anything about immigration detention, Amy Torres, director of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, said it's 'hard to think of anyone who would want to buy a facility of that size, nor renovate a facility of that size, except for a private prison corporation.' Union County Manager Edward Oatman said in a statement to the New Jersey Monitor that the resolution proposing the sale of the county lock-up 'generated important discussion — and unfortunately, some misunderstanding — about its purpose.' Oatman stressed the resolution would merely authorize the county to issue a request for proposals — the first step in a lengthy process that includes public input. 'While we cannot control who submits proposals, we will limit acceptable uses, in accordance with state law. If any proposals involve continued use as a correctional facility, it will be strictly confined to housing individuals involved in the criminal justice system — such as those facing charges. No other uses of that nature will be permitted,' he said. Torres said the Laken Riley Act — which requires federal officers to detain migrants accused but not yet convicted of crimes ranging from shoplifting to assault — could lead to some immigrants being labeled criminals without any due process. Congress approved the bill in January, and President Donald Trump signed it into law. 'I don't want to hear that this is only for criminals because we know that ICE has been profiling people, labeling them violent criminals when they're not and when they've proven not to be, and deporting them anyway or detaining them indefinitely,' she said. The news of the jail's potential sale comes on the heels of federal officials announcing plans for a massive, privately run immigrant detention center at Delaney Hall in Newark. Last year, the American Civil Liberties Union obtained documents that showed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was eyeing another location in Trenton as a potential detention center. Federal officials under both the Trump and Biden administrations have said North Jersey is a prime location to house immigrant detainees because of its proximity to Newark's airport and immigration courts in Manhattan. Immigration enforcement efforts have ramped up across the country as Trump moves to carry out his campaign promise of mass deportation of undocumented immigrants. According to ICE, officials made more than 32,000 enforcement-related arrests between Trump's second inauguration and March 13. The Union County jail is a roughly 1,000-bed facility located in the heart of Elizabeth. It has been largely empty since 2021, when the county approved closing it as a cost-saving move (it said savings would amount to $103 million over five years). A 2021 state law bars public entities from entering into contracts to house immigrant detainees, but a provision of the law that also barred private entities from doing so has been ruled unconstitutional. The state has appealed the ruling, and the appeal is scheduled to be heard by an appellate court in about a month. Oatman said that as county manager, he's looking for ways to generate 'meaningful tax relief — potentially upwards of $100 million — while ensuring any future use of the property aligns with the needs and values of our community.' He said he hopes the request attracts a diverse group of bidders from a variety of industries. He also noted that demolishing the facility would cost tens of millions of dollars, and repurposing it could cost millions per floor. Torres said it's unlikely that a non-prison operator would be interested in buying the Union County jail. Commissioners should be looking at how to repurpose it for the community instead of 'rolling out the red carpet for private prison corporations,' she said. 'In an imaginary world, it can be bought by anyone and turned into anything, but we don't live in an imaginary world, we live in reality. And the reality is that ICE and private prison companies are looking to score additional sites for immigration detention,' she said. Torres said the possible unveiling of yet another new detention center in New Jersey — there's an existing immigrant jail in Elizabeth — would be detrimental to the diverse community, where over a third of residents are immigrants. The city doesn't want to be known as the immigrant detention capital of America, she added. 'This isn't deep south Florida. This is New Jersey, and I feel like that is not something that is reflective of our values of the state,' Torres said. 'I hope it's not something that's reflective of the values of Union County, but I guess maybe it is.' The state Attorney General's Office did not return a request for comment. It has previously said that private detention centers 'threaten the public health and safety of New Jerseyans, including when used for immigration purposes.'
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
ICE plans massive new immigrant detention center in Newark
ICE announced this week that it intends to contract with a private prison firm to house as many as 1,000 immigrant detainees at Delaney Hall in Newark. (Photo by New Jersey Monitor) The largest federal immigration detention center on the east coast will open in Newark, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials announced Wednesday. Delaney Hall, a 1,000-bed facility located next to the Essex County jail, will be the first immigration detention center to open under the Trump administration. The facility's owner, private prison contractor Geo Group, said Thursday it signed a 15-year contract with ICE worth more than $60 million. ICE officials said the new detention center would help it manage growing arrests and deportations ordered under President Donald Trump, who campaigned for reelection pledging a mass deportation effort. Delaney Hall's closeness to Newark airport is also key, according to ICE. 'The location near an international airport streamlines logistics, and helps facilitate the timely processing of individuals in our custody as we pursue President Trump's mandate to arrest, detain and remove illegal aliens from our communities,' acting ICE director Caleb Vitello said in a statement. I think what's really surprising here is not that the site is opening. It's that we've waited this long and still have done nothing. – Amy Torres, executive director for the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice In an earnings call Thursday, Geo Group officials said they expect to open Delaney Hall by the end of June, and that expanding detention capacity to address 'unprecedented' enforcement efforts is a priority under the Trump administration. George Zoley, CEO of the prison company, said Delaney Hall is 'brand-new inside and it's all ready to go. All we need to do is the recruitment, the hiring, the background screening, and the training.' Delaney Hall housed immigrant detainees between 2011 and 2017. Geo Group has been considering reopening it since at least April 2024, when it sued New Jersey over a state law that bars private and public companies from contracting with ICE to house immigrant detainees. A federal judge in 2023 ruled that the law is unconstitutional as it pertains to private companies, a ruling that New Jersey has appealed and has yet to be heard by a federal appellate court. Michael Symons, a spokesman for Attorney General Matt Platkin, said the office hopes the judge's ruling will be overturned on appeal. 'Private detention facilities threaten the public health and safety of New Jerseyans, including when used for immigration purposes,' Symons said. When it opens, Delaney Hall will be the state's second private detention center for immigrants. The other is the Elizabeth Detention Center, which can hold about 300 detainees. Amy Torres, executive director for the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, criticized lawmakers for not acting on this issue while the Trump administration touted plans of mass deportation. 'I think what's really surprising here is not that the site is opening. It's that we've waited this long and still have done nothing,' she said. 'The question of what more they could have done suggests they've done anything.' Torres said critical protections could be put in place through the proposed Immigrant Trust Act legislation that has stalled in the Statehouse. The bill would bar public schools, health care facilities, shelters, and libraries from collecting data on immigration status and codify bans on local law enforcement from working with federal immigration authorities. 'The truth is, as soon as the first ruling was laid down, New Jersey should have gotten to acting on protecting immigrant communities, and they just, frankly, haven't,' she said. Rep. Rob Menendez (D-08) also urged lawmakers to pass the legislation, stressing that the unveiling of a new detention center in New Jersey is a clear signal of ramped-up enforcement removal efforts here. 'If they didn't think the threat was real already, their eyes should be wide open right now, and the Immigrant Trust Act should be passed into law right now,' he told the New Jersey Monitor. The Department of Homeland Security has touted a spike in arrests of undocumented immigrants since Trump regained the White House in January, saying Wednesday that more than 20,000 migrants have been arrested in that time. Raids have been reported around the state, from Union City to Haddon Township. Newark made national headlines after ICE detained several migrants and questioned U.S. citizens at a warehouse in the city days after Trump took office. Thursday, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka condemned the plans to reopen Delaney Hall as 'nothing short of lawlessness.' 'We are a nation of laws. We will not stand by while ICE, under the heavy-handed policies of the Trump administration, operates with impunity — violating not only our values but the very legal processes that govern this country. This is more of the same bully behavior from Washington, which disregards the Constitution when it is convenient for their agenda,' he said in a statement. Baraka said he will 'explore every legal and political avenue' to challenge ICE's move. ICE is also exploring reopening the Albert M. 'Bo' Robinson Treatment Center, a 1,000-bed facility in Trenton that held state prisoners until 2022. According to records obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union in November, ICE is looking to house at least 600 immigrants there. Menendez said lawmakers got 'no heads up' about the decision to reopen Delaney Hall, but already knew the direction the administration was heading. During a recent visit to the Elizabeth Detention Center, the facility was nearing capacity, he said. Eliana Fernández, director of organizing for immigrant advocacy group Make the Road New Jersey, said state officials have the ability to increase funding for deportation defense and ensure state resources won't help ICE detain and deport immigrants. 'We must fight back against the narrative that detention and deportation is a moral crusade and a public good, but that in fact these are simply efforts to funnel public resources into the private prison industry,' she said. Spokespeople for Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex) declined to comment. Earlier this week, Scutari said he doesn't think the state needs to pass the Immigrant Trust Act, citing a 2018 attorney general's directive offering some protections, like barring local police from sharing data with ICE and cooperating in civil immigration enforcement operations. He believes expanding and codifying that directive would open the state up to a lawsuit. A spokesman for the Murphy administration also declined to comment. In his budget address Tuesday, Murphy said he would defend immigrant communities and wants to give the Attorney General's Office $1 million to fight lawsuits against the Trump administration. Torres said ICE's move to reopen Delaney Hall is an opportunity for Murphy to 'show us what that looks like.' 'The very first ICE facility under the Trump administration is opening in your own backyard, your largest city,' she said. 'So you're a target anyway, whether you have the courage to act or not.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
