NJ says judge erred in allowing ICE detention center in Elizabeth to stay open
New Jersey has appealed a federal court ruling allowing the state's last immigrant detention center to stay open, arguing that the facility in Elizabeth should not be immune from a law that would shut it down.
The 66-page brief, filed Thursday in the Third District U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia by the New Jersey Attorney General's Office, seeks to reverse the decision in August by federal District Judge Robert Kirsch. The judge upheld a preliminary injunction sought by prison company CoreCivic against a state ban that would have forced it to close the Elizabeth Detention Center.
The EDC, located near Newark Airport, is the last detention center in New Jersey used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and can house up to 300 people. Emilio Dabul, an ICE spokesperson, said in an email that there were 236 people held at the center as of Monday.
Those detainees are usually asylum seekers and other undocumented people waiting for the resolution of their immigration cases and those who have incurred criminal violations.
The case against ICE center in Elizabeth
In the brief, lawyers for the state said that the district court "erred" in ruling that the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution gives CoreCivic "freestanding constitutional immunity" from the statute that New Jersey has cited in seeking to close the Elizabeth center down.
State lawmakers passed the measure, AB 5207, in 2021. It prohibits local jails from entering into new contracts to house federal immigration detainees.
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The state's lawyers also argued that the court erred in ruling that "Congress freed private contractors from compliance" from state laws like AB 5207.
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Kirsch ruled that the New Jersey statute was "unconstitutional" when applied to the federal government's operation of the Elizabeth Detention Center. He also said in his ruling that if the New Jersey facility was closed due to the state law and a neighboring state passed a similar law, it "would result in nothing short of chaos" for immigration enforcement.
CoreCivic spokesperson Brian Todd did not respond directly to a request for comment this week and instead issued the company's standard response: "CoreCivic plays a valued but limited role in America’s immigration system, which we have done for every administration – Democrat and Republican – for nearly 40 years, including more than 20 years at Elizabeth Detention Center.
"We are grateful that we have the privilege of continuing to support the vital mission of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security," the company added.
Representatives for ICE did not respond immediately to an email for comment.
Activist groups who have been pushing for the closure of the detention center said in a joint statement to NorthJersey.com that in its appeal, the Attorney General’s office is "uplifting direct demands from local New Jersey communities, congressional delegations, and over 70 organizations from 20 states." Also, the statement noted that some of those organizations such as the ACLU of New Jersey and Pax Christi USA will be filing amicus briefs in support of the appeal later this week.
Ricardo Kaulessar covers race, immigration, and culture for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com
Twitter: @ricardokaul
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ appeals ruling allowing ICE detention center to stay open
