Being in the US without authorization is a civil offense, not a criminal offense. Our neighbors are being detained for the equivalent of a lawsuit over backpay, or a slip and fall. No other civil offenses allow pre-trial confinement. Why should immigration? Even if the person has been removed previously, the criminal charge they face would be a misdemeanor. Do we detain teenagers pre-trial when they’ve been caught trespassing or having a fake ID? Of course we don’t and we shouldn’t detain our neighbors for those offenses either. Read More

Many worked to end Essex County’s contract with ICE, but now the federal government is taking the draconian step of moving those ICE detainees from the Essex County Correctional Facility to detention centers in the Deep South including Alabama, Louisiana, and Georgia. Read More

A money trail leading from Elberon to Kean University – as well as other prominent New Jersey institutions – has already been uncovered. We ask that the media stay on this story, and continue to highlight how Essex County residents, as just one example, profit directly from the imprisonment of immigrant bodies. Read More