Essex County Ending Controversial Prison Contract With ICE

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Essex County is ending its controversial contract to house federal immigration detainees for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), officials announced Wednesday.

Over the past years, the county has taken in tens of millions of dollars in revenue in exchange for holding ICE detainees at the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark, in addition to its other inmates. It’s a deal that has seen ongoing protest from activists, who have accused the county of accepting “blood money.”

But starting Aug. 23, there will be “zero” ICE detainees left at the county’s prison, officials said.

Essex County expects to “basically offset” the lost revenue via a recent agreement to house hundreds of inmates for nearby Union County. Read More: Essex County Makes Deal To Hold Inmates From Union County Jail

According to county spokespeople, it will be up to ICE to decide where the 165 detainees currently housed at the prison will be moved.

An ICE spokesperson provided Patch with a statement about the decision on Wednesday:

"ICE-ERO Newark has had a positive and mutually beneficial relationship with the Essex County Correctional Facility for many years. In addition to upholding ICE detention standards, Essex, because of its locale, has served the needs of ICE-ERO detainees in terms of family visits, attorney meetings, and outreach from community organizations. As to where the ICE-ERO detainees at Essex will be transferred to, ICE-ERO is currently considering its options both locally and nationally."

Essex County officially notified ICE of its intention to depopulate the ECCF of detainees on Friday, a day after the Union County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved the memorandum of agreement.

According to the county’s contract with the federal government, ICE has 120 days to remove its detainees from the Essex County Correctional Facility.

Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said there isn’t enough space at the Newark prison to hold both ICE detainees and Union County inmates.

“We have had a very solid working relationship with ICE during the last 13 years,” DiVincenzo said.

“It has always been in the best interest of the detainees to remain close to their family, friends, attorneys and community organizations helping them in a facility that was safe and secure,” DiVincenzo continued. “[The Essex County Correctional Facility] fulfilled this responsibility very well and we thank ICE for their partnership.”

Essex County Commissioner President Wayne Richardson also issued a statement about the decision:

“The Essex County Board of Commissioners joins Essex County Executive DiVincenzo in the decision to end the contract with ICE and thereby end the confinement of ICE detainees at the Essex County Corrections Facility. It is commendable that other partnerships, particularly the recently announced agreement with the Union County Board of Commissioners, will aid Essex County in maintaining fiscal responsibility.”

“This board has heard clearly and consistently from constituents concerned about ICE detainees and the county’s contract with ICE,” Richardson said. “Those concerns have not fallen upon unconcerned ears.”

“Speaking personally, as one who believes in equality, equity, and social justice, I do not condone federal policies that detain individuals for no reason other than their unauthorized entry into the United States,” Richardson added.

Commissioner Brendan Gill agreed with Richardson, saying he is happy to see Essex County turn the page on this chapter in its history.

"The idea of detaining individuals solely on their unauthorized entry in the United States is fundamentally wrong," Gill stated.

Some local immigration advocates have rolled their eyes at the county's decision to nix its contract with ICE, however.

"While we have long called for the termination of the Essex County ICE contract, there is no celebration in the fact that this decision was made in order to further profit off of incarceration and detention," said Amy Torres, executive director of New Jersey Alliance For Immigrant Justice.

"The choice to end the ICE contract in order to fill beds with people from Union County is a decision where no one wins ... where families will continue to be separated, where inhumane conditions and lack of accountability within the jail systems will continue, and where counties will continue to profit off of pain and punishment," Torres said.

• See related article: Prison Hunger Strikes Continue In NJ As ICE Detainees Fear COVID
• See related article: 'Ban ICE Contracts:' New Push For Immigrant Rights Launches In NJ
• See related article: Exploiting NJ Prisoners For Profit Must End, Essex Freeholders Say

‘HALF-EMPTY’ PRISONS

In the past, DiVincenzo has advocated that it makes more fiscal sense for counties to merge their jail operations instead of maintaining separate facilities that are “half-empty.”

The county executive said that governments at all levels are facing difficult financial challenges, and the deal with Union County will help out both entities.

“This partnership is a great opportunity for Union County to find an alternative way to house their inmates without having to operate a costly facility, and for Essex County to maximize the capacity of our accredited complex and generate revenue,” DiVincenzo said.

According to a statement from county spokespeople:

“Essex County is anticipating about $11.3 million in revenue from its agreement with Union County. This revenue is based on Essex County housing an average daily population of 300 inmates from Union County. Union County would pay Essex a daily rate of $104 per inmate per day that is housed at the ECCF. Essex County will provide video conferencing booths for Union County to conduct remote hearings and interviews with Union County inmates. Union County would be responsible for transporting Union County inmates to the Union County Courthouse for in-person hearings and for transporting Union County inmates back to Union County when they are released. The agreement would be for five years with an opportunity to extend the partnership.”

The statement continued:

“For the last 10 years, Essex County has been a proponent for the consolidation of county facilities and made it known it was open to entering into an agreement with another county. The jail population slowly has been declining and statewide bail reform enacted before the pandemic resulted in a significant reduction in the number of individuals housed at the Essex County Correctional Facilities and other county jails throughout New Jersey.”

Essex County has similar agreements to house Gloucester County inmates and U.S. Marshals inmates at the Essex County Correctional Facility. It also has similar partnerships to house juvenile detention residents from Passaic County, Union County and Hudson County at the Essex County Juvenile Detention Center in Newark.

According to Union County officials, the move will save them more than $103 million over the next five years. The county plans to closing major operations at its jail in Elizabeth. It will cease the long-term housing of prisoners effective July 1, and will begin operating as a hub to intake, process, temporarily detain and transport prisoners to the Essex County Correctional Facility. Shuttle buses will also be available to transport those wishing to visit prisoners in Essex County.

Union County officials decided to pursue the agreement as the number of prisoners housed at the jail have fallen nearly 67 percent the past 10 years, from more than 1,000 prisoners to currently 345.

• See related article: Union County To Send Prisoners At Jail To Essex County Correctional Facility

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