PHILADELPHIA, PA [May 1, 2025] – In 2023, a federal district court judge struck down part of New Jersey’s 2021 law banning public and private prison contracts with ICE, ruling the private prison provisions unconstitutional. The lawsuit, brought by CoreCivic—a major global private prison company—sought injunctive relief to stop New Jersey from cutting off their multi-million dollar profit source: the incarceration of immigrants. Today, eighteen months following the State’s appeal, the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice (NJAIJ), alongside statewide and other tri-state partners, mobilized over 150 community members and organizations to pack the court and fight back against detention expansion in New Jersey.

“Four years ago, alongside our partners and communities, we made history by shutting down immigration detention centers in New Jersey. Today, we return with the same determination to shut them down again,” said Amy Torres, Executive Director of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. “Mass detention is a cruel, failed system that inflicts irreparable harm on our communities. It has no place in our state. Regardless of the court decision today, New Jersey values demand that our state is home to immigrants, not private prison companies.”

“While there was no ruling on detention centers in New Jersey today, one thing was clear: our movement is only getting stronger. The massive rally - with more than 150 people-  outside the courthouse showed overwhelming support for immigrant justice in New Jersey and across the country. Our communities are watching, and we won’t stop until the ICE detention ban is fully defended and upheld,” said Eliana Fernandez, Director of Organizing at Make the Road New Jersey. “As we await the court’s decision, we remain committed to the fight ahead. The stakes couldn’t be higher—our families’ safety and freedom are on the line. We urge the court to stand with New Jersey’s right to protect its people from private detention centers that only create chaos, separate families, and racially profile our communities. The time to act is now.”

New Jersey’s 2021 detention ban, which was passed after years of grassroots organizing and led by individuals who have experienced the painful realities of detention and deportation, marked a significant victory for immigrant rights. The passage of the law prompted CoreCivic to make a last-minute contract extension at the Elizabeth Detention Center (EDC) before Governor Murphy signed the bill, leaving it the only operational facility in the state. As the extension deadline approached, CoreCivic filed a lawsuit arguing that the ban was unconstitutional, and in 2023, the court ruled in favor of the company, effectively nullifying the ban. Since that ruling, New Jersey has faced escalating threats of detention expansion, underscoring the urgent need to strengthen immigrant protections in the state.

“New Jersey made it clear when we passed the detention ban—our communities will not be complicit in the abuse and incarceration of our immigrant neighbors. The federal court’s decision undermines our values and opens the door to private prison profiteers whose track records don't align with New Jersey’s values,” said Congresswoman LaMonica McIver. “I have been to Elizabeth Detention Center to conduct oversight, have opposed the reopening of Delaney Hall, and I will continue to fight alongside our communities to stop the expansion of ICE detention in our state. We need real accountability, not a return to mass detention.”

“Privately run detention centers run counter to the values of our district and our state, and it will take a coordinated effort from leaders at every level of government to stop their expansion,” said Congressman Rob Menendez. “While I’m hopeful that the courts will stand up for what is right, we will continue to work every single day to combat the Trump Administration’s targeting of our immigrant friends and neighbors, treat them with dignity and respect, and strengthen inclusivity in our communities.”

“As we spearhead the fight against the reopening of the Delaney Hall facility, the City of Newark is fully committed to protecting the rights and dignity of our immigrant neighbors,” said Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka. “The court’s decision to allow private ICE contracts has already inflicted lasting harm on communities across New Jersey—and the damage will only grow unless the detention ban is fully reinstated. New Jersey has fought hard to uphold its values as a fair and welcoming state, and Newark refuses to be complicit while Black and Brown immigrants are targeted and exploited for corporate profit. We will stand our ground and fiercely oppose any effort to expand mass detention here in our city or anywhere in this state.”

“As the Trump administration continues to politicize and attack our immigrant communities, we must stand united against these mounting injustices and defend civil and human rights at every turn. Immigrant detention centers are inhumane, ineffective, and allow private companies to profit off the separation of families. These facilities do not reflect our values and have no place in our state,” said Senator Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen). “As the prime sponsor of the law that banned detention centers in New Jersey and the Immigrant Trust Act, I am committed to restoring the detention center ban and advancing immigrant rights so that all who come here in search of a better life are protected by due process and treated with dignity.”

“The reckless detention and deportation of immigrants we've seen over the last 100 days is both disturbing and disheartening,” said Assemblywoman Ellen Park (D-Bergen). “New Jersey will not be complicit in the Trump Administration's abuses of power.”

Just over 100 days into the Trump presidency, immigrant communities in New Jersey have faced increasing threats of mass detention and deportation. ICE has intensified its operations across the state, undermining due process and tearing families apart. With the detention ban suspended during the state’s appeal, private prison companies like GEO Group have sought the same legal relief as CoreCivic, paving the way for the reopening of Delaney Hall in Newark. At the same time, Union County is moving to auction its jail in Elizabeth,raising the alarming possibility that a private prison company could win the bid, accelerating the expansion of mass detention across New Jersey. 

“At First Friends of New Jersey & New York, we’ve seen the devastating reality of immigration detention up close. Every day, our staff and volunteers support people who have been torn from their families, locked in cages, and subjected to relentless psychological abuse. This isn’t the exception — it’s the norm,” said Katy Sastre, Executive Director of First Friends of New Jersey and New York. “CoreCivic and other private prison profiteers have no place in our state. We fought to ban immigrant detention in New Jersey because we believe no one should profit off human suffering. Now, we’re calling on the Third Circuit to do what’s right: overturn the lower court’s decision and uphold New Jersey’s ban — so no one can ever again profit from the pain inflicted on our communities.”

“As an organizer with the American Friends Service Committee, I’ve witnessed the damage immigration detention inflicts on families across New Jersey,” said Serges Demefack, Coordinator of the Black Immigrants Justice Project at American Friends Service Committee. “New Jerseyans must stand firm against private prison companies like CoreCivic that profit from the pain and suffering of immigrant communities. The true cost of immigration detention isn’t just measured in dollars; it’s felt in the broken bonds between parents and children, in the trauma of separation, and in the lasting harm to entire communities. No corporation should be allowed to profit from family suffering, and our laws must reflect and protect our shared humanity.”

"Beloveds who courageously journey to become New Americans in search of safety and opportunity are sojourners of hope. We are not called to imprison them in cages. We are called to receive them with open arms,” said Charlene Walker, Executive Director of Faith in New Jersey. “New Jersey took that stand and became a beacon of hope for the nation. While it may feel as though that hope is on trial today, the truth is: the people will not be deterred. We hold fast to that hope, we pray the court chooses justice, and we will not back down from protecting our beloved neighbors—no matter what."

“What needs to be uplifted is that so many of our community members are disappearing. This gets painted as a Latine issue, but the reality is so many Black, Middle Eastern, and Southeast Asian people are being abducted and held somewhere where we oftentimes have difficulty in locating them,” said Aiden Omar Castellanos-Pedroza, Youth Program Manager at VietLead. “It's always been terrifying to come to a new country and do your best at making a living, but it's especially difficult now as your whole existence is becoming more and more criminalized and due process is harder and harder to receive. And the easier it is to criminalize people's existence, the easier it is that the next person can be you. Ending detention is a step in how we stop normalizing that people can just be incarcerated. Ending detention is a means of protecting each other. ”

"We stand with New Jersey's immigrant families and against greedy private prison operators who are working with the Trump administration to make money off our broken immigration system by ripping at the fabric of our communities," said Antoinette Miles, State Director of New Jersey Working Families. "We laud the Murphy administration for defending this statute and hope that the court will do the right thing and preserve New Jersey's right to safeguard its own residents against these extremist immigration policies."

“My husband is a good man who was abiding by the law and going to a routine check-in with immigration. Now, he has been stripped of his rights and must wait until we can afford to send him money so he can call us and hear his children’s voices,” said Aracely, a community member from Make the Road Pennsylvania. “Our children have changed drastically since losing their father. They have been having problems focusing in class, getting in trouble, and even getting physically ill more than ever before. When I asked my husband how he was holding up in Moshannon [Detention Center], all he said was ‘There is nothing good about this place.’ Our children need their father and I need my husband - every day is a new challenge and the cruelty of this system is only causing further damage to myself, my husband, my children, and the fabric of our family.”

“Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition members have a long history fighting to shut down immigrant detention centers; we know that for all of us across the country to fight against ICE attacks, closing down these prisons is fundamental,” said Jasmine Rivera, Executive Director of Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition. “Immigrant detention is unnecessary, unjust and abusive. In 2023, we shut down the Berks County Detention Center and we will not stop until we shut down Moshannon, Clinton and Pike in Pennsylvania, the Elizabeth Detention Center in NJ, and every detention center nationwide.”

"Free Migration Project was a core member of the Shut Down Berks Coalition, an effort that permanently shut down the immigrant prison in Berks County, PA. For years, Berks was a site of state violence—where families, including children, were incarcerated simply for seeking safety,” said Adrianna Torres-Garcia, Deputy Director of Free Migration Project. “From that hard-fought, eight-year campaign, we emerged victorious and more convinced than ever that immigration detention should be abolished in its entirety. We remain committed to a future where no detention center—public or private—can profit from the incarceration of our people. Detention must end everywhere, not just in Berks, but in New Jersey and across the country."

Community organizing, public pressure, and widespread outcry were instrumental in the passage of the immigration detention ban. Now, the very same voices are mobilizing to renew this crucial fight. As litigation over the detention ban continues and we anticipate a ruling, NJAIJ and its partners persist in urging State Leadership and the Legislature to guarantee protections to its immigrant communities by passing the Immigrant Trust Act (S3672/A4987). Threats of dismantling our communities are no longer looming; they are here. New Jersey must fight against the federal administration’s intimidation tactics and protect and empower our most invaluable resource: the people. 

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Make the Road New Jersey is a member of New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice (NJAIJ), the state's largest immigration coalition. Alongside 60 other member organizations, NJAIJ fights for policies that empower and protect immigrants.