Essex Freeholders: We Lack The Authority To Release ICE Detainees – Belleville, NJ Patch

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Advocates and family members have been demanding the release of ICE detainees at the Essex County Correctional Facility (ECCF) long before the coronavirus hit New Jersey. But now, as COVID-19 continues to spread among the jail’s inmates and staff, they’ve gained an ironic ally in their mission: the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders.

On Wednesday, the board passed a resolution that urges the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to “promptly grant the release of all detainees currently incarcerated due solely to their immigration status.”

The county has been contracting with the DHS to house undocumented immigrants awaiting deportation since 2011, making an estimated $15 to $20 million in profit from a contract that was expected to create more than $42 million in revenue last year.

Family members and advocates have been relentlessly protesting for years to get ICE detainees released at the ECCF. In addition to freeholder meetings, another favorite target among protesters has been ICE’s office in Newark, which helps to deport hundreds of undocumented immigrants a month.

Their efforts have shifted into high gear over the past few months, as COVID-19 continues to spread throughout prisons in New Jersey, including the ECCF.

It’s not just inmates who are at risk, advocates charge. Staff, their families and the people who live around the prisons are also endangered by keeping detainees in jail, they say.

According to advocates, the threat of coronavirus at the ECCF is especially concerning, considering the laundry list of alleged health and safety violations that have been reported at the facility over the past few years.

But according to the freeholders, although they’re sympathetic to protesters’ demands, the board doesn’t have the power to release ICE detainees – only the DHS does.

“Although detainees are held in the ECCF while awaiting immigration proceedings, by law they are in the federal custody of ICE and can only be released if the DHS or ICE grants their release, or if an order for their release is issued by a federal judge,” the freeholders wrote in a joint statement.

The freeholders continued:

“Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March, serious concerns have been raised regarding the spread of the virus inside the facility, the health of inmates and detainees, the health of staffers, and the likely possibility of the virus spreading outside of the facility. New Jersey, specifically Essex County, has been especially hit hard by COVID-19. There have been more COVID-19 positive cases and deaths in New Jersey than in any other state in the nation with the exception of New York; and Essex County, as of June 10, 2020, has had 1,723 deaths, which is more than any other county in the state. These unfortunate and tragic numbers highlight the need for government agencies and officials to consider all feasible possibilities to slow the spread of the virus.”

This is exactly what New Jersey Chief Justice Stuart Rabner did when he signed an order clearing the way for the home release of more than 1,000 non-violent offenders at county jails across the state, the freeholders said.

“I supported the decision made by Chief Justice Rabner, and through the passage of this resolution, this board implores the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to take similar action to protect the American people,” Freeholder President Brendan Gill said.

The total inmate population at ECCF is at 1,591 as of Thursday, a 22 percent decrease since February. That includes 374 federal detainees in ICE custody, a number that has dropped 41.1 percent. (See more statistics below)

The freeholders have taken other steps to protect ICE detainees at the ECCF.

In April, officials announced the prison will be one of the first jails in the nation to use the recently approved COVID-19 IgG/IgM rapid test cassette. The new tests will be used for inmates and federal ICE detainees, whether they’re symptomatic or not, officials stated.

Last year, Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. and the freeholders said they planned to use a portion of the profits from the ICE contract to hire free lawyers for detainees who can’t afford them.

Recently, the county launched a civilian task force that will help provide oversight at the prison.

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