Essex County Correctional Center in Newark, New Jersey, announced this past April that it would be ending its contract of more than a decade with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In recent days, it has held as many as 100 immigrants. ICE could begin to take steps to release them so they pursue their cases in their homes and communities. The government agency has every ability to do this.
But instead, ICE transferred nearly 30 of them in the middle of the night, The Guardian reports. No one seemed to know where they were sent. “Not even their immigration lawyers currently know where ICE has transferred them,” groups advocating for their release tweeted on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of New Jersey, and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild announced a federal lawsuit.
“The lawsuit cites violations of due process and the Immigration and Nationality Act,” a statement said, noting that ICE has a history of sending immigrants to remote regions of the nation, intentionally making it harder for them to reach relatives, advocacy groups, and legal representation. “The groups are asking the court to prevent ICE from transferring immigration detainees at Essex who are represented by counsel to facilities more than 100 miles away,” the statement continued. The groups called the transfers “illegal” in the statement.
The Guardian reports that among those who were transferred without a trace were immigrants who had launched hunger strikes out of fear of these very transfers, and had been demanding to be released. “The people have shown time and time again that they are willing to put their bodies on the line for freedom,” Abolish ICE NY-NJ told The Guardian. The group believes as many as 39 detained immigrants at Essex have been on a hunger strike. “These transfers put them at risk for being force-fed, and in some cases, deported.”
The organizations suing noted that some of the regions that immigrants are transferred to by ICE “could be subject to having their cases considered in jurisdictions with much less favorable case law.” Abolish ICE NY-NJ tweeted that by the next day, June 30, another 15 detained immigrants were likely transferred by ICE. “We’re hearing from folks inside Essex County Jail that guards tried to end the hunger strike by immigrants by entering their cells and macing them,” the group tweeted this week. “Multiple people were dragged off in their underwear, and we don’t know where they are now. It’s likely they were transferred by ICE.”
“This disgusting intimidation, harassment and torture by ICE and Essex County officials must end,” Abolish ICE NY-NJ continued. “We demand they listen to the demands of the hunger strikers and release everyone to their communities!” The ACLU of New Jersey’s leader in a statement said that ”[t]ransferring hundreds of people far away from their families and attorneys violates the rights and dignity of New Jerseyans, and we’re calling on the courts to stop this policy of gratuitous cruelty.”
“Especially in New Jersey, which offers legal representation for immigrants in detention who face deportation, the policy of transferring people deprives community members of their rights and fails to treat them with the dignity they deserve,” executive director Amol Sinha continued. “We have a duty to allow people to await their immigration proceedings in communities rather than in detention, to avoid disrupting lives and depriving people of their constitutional rights.”
The lawsuit names the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, acting ICE Director Tae Johnson (a holdover from the previous administration), Essex officials, and a number of top officials from ICE’s Newark Office. As noted earlier, Essex announced in April that it would be ending its contract with ICE, giving the agency up to 120 days to remove detainees from the site, NJ.com reported. ICE could have released them. But it’s instead choosing to prolong their detention.
But instead, ICE transferred nearly 30 of them in the middle of the night, The Guardian reports. No one seemed to know where they were sent. “Not even their immigration lawyers currently know where ICE has transferred them,” groups advocating for their release tweeted on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of New Jersey, and the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild announced a federal lawsuit.
“The lawsuit cites violations of due process and the Immigration and Nationality Act,” a statement said, noting that ICE has a history of sending immigrants to remote regions of the nation, intentionally making it harder for them to reach relatives, advocacy groups, and legal representation. “The groups are asking the court to prevent ICE from transferring immigration detainees at Essex who are represented by counsel to facilities more than 100 miles away,” the statement continued. The groups called the transfers “illegal” in the statement.
The Guardian reports that among those who were transferred without a trace were immigrants who had launched hunger strikes out of fear of these very transfers, and had been demanding to be released. “The people have shown time and time again that they are willing to put their bodies on the line for freedom,” Abolish ICE NY-NJ told The Guardian. The group believes as many as 39 detained immigrants at Essex have been on a hunger strike. “These transfers put them at risk for being force-fed, and in some cases, deported.”
The organizations suing noted that some of the regions that immigrants are transferred to by ICE “could be subject to having their cases considered in jurisdictions with much less favorable case law.” Abolish ICE NY-NJ tweeted that by the next day, June 30, another 15 detained immigrants were likely transferred by ICE. “We’re hearing from folks inside Essex County Jail that guards tried to end the hunger strike by immigrants by entering their cells and macing them,” the group tweeted this week. “Multiple people were dragged off in their underwear, and we don’t know where they are now. It’s likely they were transferred by ICE.”
“This disgusting intimidation, harassment and torture by ICE and Essex County officials must end,” Abolish ICE NY-NJ continued. “We demand they listen to the demands of the hunger strikers and release everyone to their communities!” The ACLU of New Jersey’s leader in a statement said that ”[t]ransferring hundreds of people far away from their families and attorneys violates the rights and dignity of New Jerseyans, and we’re calling on the courts to stop this policy of gratuitous cruelty.”
“Especially in New Jersey, which offers legal representation for immigrants in detention who face deportation, the policy of transferring people deprives community members of their rights and fails to treat them with the dignity they deserve,” executive director Amol Sinha continued. “We have a duty to allow people to await their immigration proceedings in communities rather than in detention, to avoid disrupting lives and depriving people of their constitutional rights.”
The lawsuit names the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, acting ICE Director Tae Johnson (a holdover from the previous administration), Essex officials, and a number of top officials from ICE’s Newark Office. As noted earlier, Essex announced in April that it would be ending its contract with ICE, giving the agency up to 120 days to remove detainees from the site, NJ.com reported. ICE could have released them. But it’s instead choosing to prolong their detention.