On November 24th, the Hudson County Freeholders voted to extend the county's contract with ICE for another ten years in the face of intense community opposition. While some might see this merely as a bid to gain more federal funding, the decision goes beyond cost-benefit analysis. It is an expression of a bipartisan consensus that detention and deportation of immigrants promote national security. It is easy to blame Trump's regime of xenophobia, but the problem began with the Bush and Obama Administrations. Detention of immigrants in ICE jails is practiced in North Jersey counties controlled by Democratic freeholders. Now that Joe Biden is president-elect, we must not relax our vigilance when it comes to immigration. Instead, we should continue to press for reform of a system shaped by a siege mentality. If you live in Essex County, a good place to begin would be the Essex County Commissioners meeting on Wednesday, December 16th at 7pm. We can thank the commissioners for the progress they have made in the oversight of ICE detention in the Essex County Correctional Facility and urge them to end their association with ICE entirely.