NJAID Press Conference on Mandatory Detention & Essex County's IGSA w/IC...

Human Rights Advocates Denounce Expansion of Flawed Immigration Detention System in Essex: Calling for Community Oversight, Government Accountability, a Rollback of New Contract with ICE and an End to Mandatory Detention

Newark, NJ -- New Jersey Advocates for Immigrant Detainees* (NJAID) held a press conference calling for a rollback of the newly signed contract between Essex County and Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) and added government accountability for the immigrant detention system in Essex County. The press conference comes at the 15th anniversary of the signing of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, a law that dramatically expanded the use of mandatory detention for immigrants and led to massive deportations, tearing families and communities apart. ...

You can read the rest of the release here:http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=253442474699864

*The NJ Advocates for Immigrant Detainees is a coalition of the American Civil Liberties Union- New Jersey; American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Immigrant Rights Program; Casa de Esperanza; Casa Freehold; the Episcopal Immigration Network; IRATE & First Friends; Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry in NJ; NJ Association on Correction; NJ Forum for Human Rights; Pax Christi NJ; Middlesex County Coalition for Immigrant Rights; Monmouth County Coalition for Immigrant Rights; People's Organization for Progress, Bergen County Branch; the Reformed Church of Highland Park; Sisters of St. Joseph of Chestnut Hill; Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Montclair

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You can still show your support by signing the petition to the Essex County Freeholders &/or attending the October 9th Rally & March from Peter Francisco Park/Newark Penn Station to ECCF & back!

Sign the petition at http://www.change.org/petitions/oppose-expansion-of-immigration-detention-at-... , forward the petition to your friends and family, attend an upcoming Essex County Freeholder meeting in person and ask them to explain their vote http://www.essex-countynj.org/freeholders/site/index.php?section=meetings , & attend the protest rally and march on in Newark October 9th Redefining Cruel & Unusual Indefinite Immigration Detention for-Profit Amid Toxic Waste in Essex County beginning at 1:30 pm at Peter Francisco Park Newark, NJ (right outside Newark Penn Station) Marching to and from: Essex County Correctional Facility & Delaney Hall 356 Doremus Ave, Newark, NJhttp://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=236419679741397

NJAID Press Conference on Mandatory Detention & Essex County's IGSA w/IC...

Chia-Chia Wang of the American Friends Service Committee commences the conference.

Human Rights Advocates Denounce Expansion of Flawed Immigration Detention System in Essex: Calling for Community Oversight, Government Accountability, a Rollback of New Contract with ICE and an End to Mandatory Detention

Newark, NJ -- New Jersey Advocates for Immigrant Detainees* (NJAID) held a press conference calling for a rollback of the newly signed contract between Essex County and Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) and added government accountability for the immigrant detention system in Essex County. The press conference comes at the 15th anniversary of the signing of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, a law that dramatically expanded the use of mandatory detention for immigrants and led to massive deportations, tearing families and communities apart. ...

You can read the rest of the release here:http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=253442474699864

*The NJ Advocates for Immigrant Detainees is a coalition of the American Civil Liberties Union- New Jersey; American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Immigrant Rights Program; Casa de Esperanza; Casa Freehold; the Episcopal Immigration Network; IRATE & First Friends; Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry in NJ; NJ Association on Correction; NJ Forum for Human Rights; Pax Christi NJ; Middlesex County Coalition for Immigrant Rights; Monmouth County Coalition for Immigrant Rights; People's Organization for Progress, Bergen County Branch; the Reformed Church of Highland Park; Sisters of St. Joseph of Chestnut Hill; Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Montclair

__________________________________________


You can still show your support by signing the petition to the Essex County Freeholders &/or attending the October 9th Rally & March from Peter Francisco Park/Newark Penn Station to ECCF & back!

Sign the petition at http://www.change.org/petitions/oppose-expansion-of-immigration-detention-at-... , forward the petition to your friends and family, attend an upcoming Essex County Freeholder meeting in person and ask them to explain their vote http://www.essex-countynj.org/freeholders/site/index.php?section=meetings , & attend the protest rally and march on in Newark October 9th Redefining Cruel & Unusual Indefinite Immigration Detention for-Profit Amid Toxic Waste in Essex County beginning at 1:30 pm at Peter Francisco Park Newark, NJ (right outside Newark Penn Station) Marching to and from: Essex County Correctional Facility & Delaney Hall 356 Doremus Ave, Newark, NJhttp://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=236419679741397

Essex County immigrant detention center a house of controversy | NJ.com

Essex County immigrant detention center a house of controversy | NJ.com

Published: Thursday, September 22, 2011, 8:00 AM Updated: Thursday, September 22, 2011, 11:58 AM

By Chris Megerian/Statehouse Bureau
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Andrew Miller/For The Star-LedgerDelaney Hall, an Essex County-based private correctional facility for immigrant detainees. The center has become a focal point of controversy, as civil libertarians contend the privatized center profits from mandatory detention for immigrants who have committed civil, not criminal, violations. The signs on the walls will be taken down when detainees arrive.

NEWARK — Despite the barbed wire snaking across the top of its perimeter fence, Delaney Hall is not a traditional lock-up.

Some dorm rooms have skylights. Bookshelves line a library wall. When immigration detainees begin filling the stark-white rooms next month — thanks to the new contract between the federal government and Essex County — they will be free to walk the halls during the day.

These small comforts are part of a wide-ranging reform effort by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (known as ICE), which is seeking a less punitive form of incarceration for immigrant detainees. But the Newark facility, run by the company Community Education Centers and toured by The Star-Ledger last month, became the center of a controversy that pitted immigrant activists against politicians and company executives.

The battle took a distinctly New Jersey turn, with allegations that a now-canceled bidding process was stacked in favor of the politically connected company. It’s also provided a window into the raucous national debate over immigration detention.

Detention facilities create moneymaking opportunities for local governments and private firms, but advocates say they’re profiting from a flawed policy of mandatory detention for immigrants who may have only committed civil, not criminal, violations.

"There’s been no discussion that these are people," said Kathy O’Leary of Pax Christi, a Catholic social justice organization. "There’s been much discussion about the dollars and cents."

Detainees will include legal and illegal immigrants facing deportation for breaking immigration rules, such as overstaying a visa or entering the country without proper documents, or for committing nonviolent crimes. The contract with ICE, approved by the Essex freeholder board Sept. 7, will roughly double the number of detainees held in Newark, bringing the total to 1,250.

Essex County expects to earn $50 million a year and Community Education Centers gets a bigger bite of a growing market other companies have already tapped. Most detainees will be kept at the county jail and up to 450 will go to Delaney Hall, which also houses parolees and county inmates.

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The five-year arrangement allows the county to act as a middleman. If the detainee is housed in the jail, the county gets the full $108-a-night payment from ICE. If the detainee goes to Delaney Hall, the county pays the company $71 a night and keeps the $37 difference. "This is a very unpleasant way of getting revenue," said Ralph Caputo, vice president of the freeholder board. "But it’s going to be helpful."

Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr., once called the "Jack Welsh of correctional facilities" for his ability to turn inmates into dollars, said detainees will be a crucial source of revenue as his county wrestles with a tough economy.

"The $250 million we expect to receive over the five-year contract will significantly help reduce the financial burden on our taxpayers," he said.

DiVincenzo said the county jail and Delaney Hall would provide "modern, safe and dignified housing with access to health care and visitation."

POLICY AND PROFITS

Immigrant advocates say it’s wrong to turn faulty federal policy into a gold rush.

"They’re making money off the backs of immigrant suffering," said Amy Gottlieb, director of the Immigrant Rights Program with the American Friends Service Committee in Newark.

Antonio Ginatta, advocacy director for Human Rights Watch’s U.S. Program, said too may people are being detained because of strict federal laws signed in the 1990s.

"The immigration system is detaining people that are not flight risks and are not dangers to the community," he said.

Philip Alagia, DiVincenzo’s chief of staff, said Essex County doesn’t set immigration policy and detainees have to be housed somewhere.

"If it didn’t go to Essex, right now it would be in a county in Pennsylvania," he said.

The Obama administration disappointed advocates by increasing deportations, but recently announced it would review 300,000 cases to focus on those considered a security risk. There are 33,390 detainees held by ICE on an average day this year, up from 30,295 in the 2007 fiscal year, the agency said.

The $2.6 billion detention network includes about 250 facilities. ICE also plans new operations near Miami, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta and Kansas City.

The expansion is geared toward two goals set by the Obama administration: increase capacity in urban areas so immigrants detained there aren’t shipped to rural facilities far away from their families, and reduce its reliance on local jails that rent unused beds to the federal government.

In New Jersey, which has an average of 941 detainees each day, immigration authorities use five county jails: Essex, Bergen, Monmouth, Hudson and Sussex. They also use a private facility in Elizabeth run by Corrections Corporation of America, a Nashville, Tenn. company and one of ICE’s biggest contractors. Detainees housed in the Northeast spend an average of 49 days in ICE facilities, according to contract documents.

Because many detainees haven’t committed crimes, advocates say it’s wrong to incarcerate them in a criminal setting. So ICE says it’s seeking a "wholly new generation of detention facilities."

PRIVATIZING DETENTION

That’s where private companies like Community Education Centers step in. The West Caldwell company is better known in New Jersey for its drug rehabilitation programs and is the state Department of Corrections’ biggest contractor for halfway homes. The company, which also runs two Texas correctional facilities where ICE detainees are housed, has worked with Essex County for more than a decade.

The company has modified Delaney Hall in preparation for housing detainees. The lowest-security detainees will be sent there while those facing criminal charges will stay in the county jail. The front half will continue to house parolees and county inmates, while the back half will be for detainees. A second entrance is labeled "immigration services."

This is a second chance for the company to use Delaney Hall for detainees. In 2008, one escaped and was later recaptured in Kentucky. All 120 detainees were moved back to the county jail. Officials said security is now tighter.

RELATED COVERAGE:

• Essex County freeholders approve 5-year deal for immigrant detention

• ICE warns it may alter Essex County contract to house immigrant detainees

• Essex County signs new 5-year agreement that could increase number of immigrant detainees, generate $50M annually

• Essex County to see an increase in immigrant detainees

• Immigration advocates gather in Newark to protest proposed Essex County detention center

But the contracting process became ensnared in controversy when critics said the county’s request for proposals was tailor-made for Delaney Hall. For example, bidders were required to already have an existing correctional facility located within 10 miles of the jail — Delaney Hall is adjacent to the jail. The company’s leader, John Clancy, has been a big-dollar donor to county and state politicians. A senior vice president, William Palatucci, is a close adviser to Gov. Chris Christie. U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) questioned whether the process was "entirely fair, open and transparent."

County officials denied any wrongdoing. Eric Shuffler, a spokesman for Clancy, said it’s not surprising Delaney Hall would be "ready to accommodate the well-known policy of the federal government."

After Clancy’s organization was the only one to bid on the contract on July 28, the county said it would restart the bidding process later this year. Delaney Hall will house detainees through Dec. 31 under an existing contract, which DiVincenzo said would save the county $600,000.

A look at ICE projects around the country shows it’s not unusual for a company to work closely with local government. Sometimes the company leads the charge to bring in detainees.

That’s what happened in Crete, Ill., about 40 miles south of Chicago. Representatives from the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) called the town last year with a pitch for a new facility, saying it would bring new jobs and tax revenue to the area. Town administrator Thomas Durkin said Crete worked with the company to pitch a plan to ICE. They were tenatively selected as a site for a new facility in June.

ICE also tenatively selected Southwest Ranches, Fla., 30 miles north of Miami, for a facility. CCA owns land there and the town approved the site plan, administrator Burt Wraines said.

Nationwide, half of all ICE detainees were housed in private facilities in 2009, according to Detention Watch Network.

Ruthie Epstein, a critic of detention policies who works at Human Rights First in New York City, said Delaney Hall is better than county jails.

Said Shuffler: "We intend to exceed ICE’s standards when it comes to medical facilities, indoor and outdoor recreational opportunities, and visitation."

That does not assuage all activists. Some note the chemical smell that wafts through the surrounding industrial park. Most of all, though, they are troubled by the underlying federal policy of mandatory detention. "No matter how nice you try to spin it, you’re looking at people with civil immigration violations behind barbed wire," Gottlieb said.

Redefining Cruel & Unusual

Redefining Cruel & Unusual

Indefinite Immigration Detention for-Profit Amid Toxic Waste in Essex County

Protest, Rally & March
October 9th
1:30 pm
Beginning at
Peter Francisco Park
Newark, NJ

Marching to and from:
Essex County Correctional Facility & Delaney Hall
356 Doremus Ave,
Newark, NJ


After 14 years the IRATE & First Friends annual protest is moving to Newark along with the detainees from the Elizabeth Detention Center. ICE listened to us year after year complain about conditions at the converted warehouse with no outdoor recreation where people were kept, sometimes for years on end. They responded by working with Essex County and the private for-profit company Community Education Centers (CEC).

Up to 1250 detainees will now be held in either the Essex County Jail or in the neighboring privately run. Delaney Hall. These sites allow for outdoor recreation but are located in the middle of numerous TOXIC WASTE sites. The jail and Delaney Hall are both located on Doremus Avenue, a highly polluted area with active polluters where air quality is a constant issue.

Concerns also persist that the Essex County Jail is restricting visits from family, lawyers, and clergy in addition to concerns about adequate food, and general safety.

The Essex County Freeholders just voted to approve a five year contact with ICE that expands an inhumane system that breaks apart families and is wasteful of tax dollars.

We oppose this expansion of immigration detention in Essex County. Many of those ensnared in the indiscriminate immigration enforcement dragnet which automatically leads to detention are long-term residents, green card holders, U.S. citizens, business owners, college graduates and veterans. We have grave concerns about the conditions under which they are being held.

Can't join us in Newark on Oct 9th? Sign the Petition http://www.change.org/petitions/oppose-expansion-of-immigration-detention-at-a-jail-accused-of-inhumane-conditions

Making sense of why more Latinos are going to federal prison | Multi-American

Making sense of why more Latinos are going to federal prison | Multi-American

Stipulated removal | Widespread violation of due process rights in secretive deportations

Stipulated removal | Widespread violation of due process rights in secretive deportations

NEW REPORT FINDS DUE PROCESS ABUSES IN SECRETIVE DEPORTATION PROGRAM “Deportation Without Due Process” Shines Light on Government “Stipulated Order of Removal” Program, Finds Evidence of Misuse

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 8, 2011 CONTACT: - Adela de la Torre, National Immigration Law Center: (213) 674-2832; delatorre@nilc.org - Jennifer Lee Koh, Western State University College of Law: (714) 459-1136; jkoh@wsulaw.edu - Jayashri Srikantiah, Stanford Law School Immigrants’ Rights Clinic: (650) 724-2442; jsrikantiah@law.stanford.edu

FULLERTON, Calif. — Using a little-known government program, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has pushed nearly 160,000 immigrants — many with deep ties to the United States — through an expedited deportation process, sometimes without adequately informing them of their right to a day in court, according to a new analysis of thousands of pages of released government documents. The report, written by attorneys and law professors at Stanford Law School, the National Immigration Law Center, and Western State University College of Law, determined that DHS agents administering the program provided legally inaccurate portrayals of the opportunities to remain in the United States in order to boost deportation numbers, even though judges and others involved in the program voiced their concerns about how the program short-circuited individuals’ rights. Authors procured the previously unreleased documents, which included emails, memos, and data, through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. According to the report, the documents revealed evidence that agents involved with the program routinely provided inaccurate and misleading information to detainees in deportation proceedings to coerce them into signing “stipulated orders of removal.” Such an order waives a noncitizen’s right to a day in court in exchange for speedy deportation. At least one immigration judge involved in the program determined that, “the waiver is not knowing in almost all cases.” “The stipulated removal program has hit some of the most powerless members of our society the hardest: poor immigrants who are in immigration detention, who don’t have lawyers, and who are facing minor, civil immigration charges. Some of these noncitizens might actually have qualified to apply for lawful immigration status,” said Jennifer Lee Koh, lead author of the report and assistant professor of law at Western State University College of Law. “Unfortunately, the documents reveal a government agency that is willing to cut corners around immigrants’ constitutional due process rights in the name of boosting deportation numbers.” Among the most troubling documents obtained through the lawsuit is a Spanish-language script, apparently used by agents administrating the program, to convince immigrants to sign the stipulated order of removal. The script, which is replete with grammatical errors and legal inaccuracies, erroneously informs immigrants that the “only” way to “fix” their papers is through certain family relationships and openly discourages immigrants from taking their cases to court. “This report confirms what attorneys working in detention centers have heard for years: non-citizens, especially those with limited English skills, are pressured into signing documents without being informed of the severe consequences of their actions,” said Karen Tumlin, managing attorney at the National Immigration Law Center and co-author of the report. “Such activity flies in the face of our constitutionally-protected due process rights. Sadly, the DHS seems to have determined that flagrant disregard for the Constitution is a fair price to pay for the expedient expulsion of thousands of members of our communities.” The report shows that the program, which began nearly a decade ago and dramatically expanded in 2003, has been encouraged by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers at various levels of the organization. According to documents reviewed by the authors of the report, field offices were encouraged to use the program to boost deportation numbers and given incentives to increase the number of stipulated orders of removal signed by detainees in their jurisdictions. “The stipulated removal program is a misguided solution to the U.S. government’s practice of over-detaining immigrants,” said Jayashri Srikantiah, professor of law and director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Stanford Law School and co-author of the report. “The Obama administration should reconsider its detention practices instead of pressuring detainees to sign their own deportation orders. Due process requires more than a coerced choice between continued detention and giving up one’s day in court.” The documents released show evidence that the noncitizens ensnared by the program were not given accurate information about their rights or current immigration law, and the documents reviewed suggest there are no policies preventing administrators from offering stipulated orders of removal to juveniles, the mentally ill, or other vulnerable populations. In 96% of all cases under the program analyzed by the authors of the report, immigrants did not have access to a lawyer, who could have provided immigrants with an accurate description of the often permanent ramifications of signing a stipulated order of removal. Authors propose a variety of policy recommendations to prevent future misuse of the program, including mandating that those who sign stipulated orders of removal hold brief meetings with judges to discuss the consequences of participation in this program, and expanding access to legal information and attorneys. The FOIA lawsuit was filed by Stanford Immigrants’ Rights Clinic and the National Immigration Law Center on behalf of the National Immigration Law Center, the ACLU of Southern California, and the National Lawyers Guild-San Francisco Bay Area Chapter. The documents procured are available at http://blogs.law.stanford.edu/stipulatedremoval/. The Immigrants’ Rights Clinic (IRC) at Stanford Law School is committed to protecting the human rights of all noncitizens regardless of immigration status. Clinic Director Jayashri Srikantiah and Anna R. Welch, the clinic’s Cooley Godward Kronish Fellow, supervise students on direct services and legal advocacy projects. Students in the clinic represent individual immigrants in a variety of settings and since the clinic’s inception, students have sought humanitarian relief from deportation on behalf of noncitizens with criminal convictions and assisted immigrant survivors of domestic violence in gaining lawful status in the United States. The clinic has also conducted legal advocacy on behalf of institutional clients in a wide range of areas, including challenging prolonged immigration detention, protecting the due process rights of immigrants in deportation proceedings, and broadening the access of immigrant survivors to much-needed legal services. The clinic’s webpage is www.law.stanford.edu/clinics/irc. Founded in 1979, the National Immigration Law Center envisions a society in which all people — regardless of race, gender, income level, or immigration status — have the opportunity to live freely, work safely, and thrive peacefully. The organization’s advocates and attorneys use a variety of tools, including policy analysis, litigation, education and advocacy, to achieve this vision. Western State University College of Law (www.wsulaw.edu) was founded in 1966 and is the oldest law school in Orange County with more than 11,000 alumni. Located in the heart of Southern California, Western State University offers both full- and part-time programs, taught by a dedicated and highly motivated faculty who serve as scholars and mentors both inside and outside of the classroom. The Western State University College of Law Immigration Clinic, provides practical training to law students, serves low-income noncitizens in a range of immigration matters, and provides advocacy on immigrants’ rights issues. The report is available as a free download, in PDF format, at www.nilc.org/immlawpolicy/arrestdet/Deportation-Without-Due-Process-2011-09.pdf.

Immigrant Rights Petition: Oppose Expansion of Immigration Detention at a Jail Accused of Inhumane Conditions | Change.org

Immigrant Rights Petition: Oppose Expansion of Immigration Detention at a Jail Accused of Inhumane Conditions | Change.org

Federal deportation review comes too late for some - CNN.com

Federal deportation review comes too late for some - CNN.com