Monday, November 19, 2012

Advocacy group calls on Obama to stop housing detainees at Kearny jail

Advocacy group calls on Obama to stop housing detainees at Kearny jail

Advocacy group calls on Obama to stop housing detainees at Kearny jail

James Queally/The Star-Ledger By James Queally/The Star-Ledger
on November 15, 2012 at 4:10 PM, updated November 15, 2012 at 7:54 PM





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obamaaa.JPG Citing poor medical treatment and abusive treatment by guards, a national immigration rights advocacy group called on President Obama to stop housing federal detainees at the Hudson County Correctional Facility this afternoon.
KEARNY — Citing denial of medical care, inadequate food and verbally abusive prison guards, a national watchdog group urged President Obama today to immediately break a contract with the Hudson County Correctional Facility that allows the jail to house immigration detainees.
In a report titled "Expose and Close," Detention Watch Network named the Kearny facility as one of the 10 in the country that houses federal immigration detainees. The nine others cited in the report are in Alabama, Texas, Florida, Arizona and Illinois.
"Conditions at these facilities have gotten so bad the only option is to shut them down," said Andrea Black, the group’s executive director.
The Hudson jail has been housing detainees on behalf of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency since 1995 and receives $111 per inmate, according to the report. In an interview earlier this year, Hudson County spokesman Jim Kennelly said there were roughly 435 ICE detainees among the jail’s 2,100 inmate population.
Hudson County receives about $16 million a year to housing immigration detainees, Kennelly said.
In its report, Detention Watch Network claimed several detainees at the Hudson facility have been denied access to medical care for serious conditions including HIV and bi-polar disorder. Guards at the jail also routinely refer to immigration detainees as "animals," curse at them and trash their possessions, according to the report.
On the national level, the group wants the Obama administration to stop housing immigration detainees in privately run prisons and county jails, a move Black argues has turned the work of housing immigration detainees into a for-profit business that generates roughly $1.7 billion in revenue each year.
The Detention Watch report is the latest in a series of scandals involving New Jersey correctional facilities this year. Over the summer, a series of New York Times reports revealed a secret world of abuse and violence inside privately run halfway houses in Essex and Mercer counties.
In February, the Passaic County jail also entered into a settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union after it filed a class-action lawsuit calling for large-scale reforms at the facility. The complex, which also was once used to house federal detainees, has been under scrutiny since 2008 when a federal judge began commuting sentences of inmates housed there because conditions at the jail had become deplorable.
Kennelly did not offer additional comment, but a representative for ICE scoffed at the report, saying the agency has dramatically improved conditions at immigrant holding facilities over the past several years.
"ICE is in the process of fully reviewing the reports. However, it is disappointing that the reports appear to be built primarily on anonymous allegations that cannot be investigated or substantiated, and many second hand sources and anecdotes that pre-date the agency’s initiation of detention reform," spokeswoman Barbara Gonzalez wrote in a statement. "ICE stands behind the significant work we’ve done reforming the detention system by increasing federal oversight, improving conditions of confinement and prioritizing the health and safety of the individuals in our custody."
In a prepared statement, Hudson County officials said they provide adequate food and medical attention to all inmates at the facility, also noting that corrections officers professional development training each year so they can better address detainees' concerns.

First Friends, a community group interested in the rights of those incarcerated in Hudson County, also have daily access to the facility and are available to receive inmate complaints, Kennelly said.


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ACLU lawsuit fights mandatory jail time for immigration detainees

ACLU lawsuit fights mandatory jail time for immigration detainees

ACLU lawsuit fights mandatory jail time for immigration detainees

James Queally/The Star-Ledger By James Queally/The Star-Ledger
on November 15, 2012 at 8:24 PM, updated November 16, 2012 at 6:25 AM





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detention-center-afp-getty.JPG A lawsuit filed by the New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is challenging the federal government's practice of mandatory incarceration for immigration detainees.
Garfield Gayle has been sitting in a Monmouth County jail cell for the past eight months. The last time he committed a crime, according to records, was in May 1995.
The 53-year-old Jamaica native, now a legal U.S. resident, has little hope of bail, but Gayle doesn't face murder or assault charges, and his criminal history is not a violent one.
In 1995, police allege, Gayle was convicted of possessing a small amount of marijuana. In April, nearly 17 years later, he opened his front door to find officials from the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agency waiting for him.
He was under arrest, they said, and facing deportation — because of the marijuana conviction.
Gayle’s residency status, arrest and incarceration are recounted in a complaint filed in New Jersey today that could have national implications.
An American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit is challenging the federal government’s practice of mandatory incarceration for immigration detainees. The ACLU claims the government unnecessarily incarcerates deportation candidates even if they are documented citizens and pose no flight risk or threat.
"It doesn’t make any sense," said Michael Tan, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants Rights project. "It’s contrary to the constitution to lock people up who very well could have a right to be here."
A spokeswoman for ICE said the agency would not comment on pending litigation.
Tan said there are hundreds of federal detainees like Gayle, immigrants who face deportation because of prior criminal offenses and remain in custody at local detention centers. Many of these inmates possess green cards or other forms of documentation verifying their residence, and most are long-term U.S. residents with full-time jobs and a "strong claim" to remain in the country, Tan said.
Gayle, a Brooklyn resident, was employed. He is divorced with two daughters and grandchildren.
The lawsuit also argues ICE routinely misinforms immigration detainees of their right to contest mandatory detention, leaving them little chance of returning home until their deportation proceedings are completed, which could take months or years. The form ICE uses to notify deportation candidates tells detainees they "may not request a review" by an immigration judge, which the ACLU argues is factually incorrect.
While today's lawsuit is seeking relief only for the approximately 400 such detainees in New Jersey, Tan said further lawsuits are possible if President Obama’s administration does not act.
"This is the first case on this issue, I think we’re waiting to see how the government deals with it," he said. "From our perspective there is nothing that stops the administration from ending this practice now, of subjecting people like Mr. Gayle to unlawful incarceration."
ICE’s detainment practices also came under fire when Detention Watch Now, a national advocacy group, called on Obama to stop housing federal detainees in what it considered the 10 worst immigration detainment facilities in the country. One New Jersey prison, the Hudson County Correctional Facility, was on the list.
In the meantime, relatives of people like Gayle will simply have to wait and wonder about their loved ones.
"A very important person is missing from their lives," Tan said of Gayle’s grandchildren. "They notice that Mr. Gayle isn’t there at the end of the school day."

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Thursday, November 15, 2012

ACLU Files Class Action Lawsuit Challenging Mandatory Immigration Lock-Up

ACLU Files Class Action Lawsuit Challenging Mandatory Immigration Lock-Up

Michael Tan

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ACLU Files Class Action Lawsuit Challenging Mandatory Immigration Lock-Up

Posted: 11/15/2012 10:52 am

Garfield Gayle, a 59-year-old green card holder from Jamaica, has lived in the United States for 30 years. He raised two U.S. citizen daughters, and has long worked as a union carpenter in Brooklyn, New York.
Nearly eight months ago, when federal agents put him in handcuffs at his home, he learned that the government was trying to deport him based on an alleged attempted drug sale offense that happened more than 17 years ago. Since then, the government has held him in mandatory immigration lock-up without any opportunity for a bail hearing. The government has never even alleged that he poses any danger or flight risk. In addition, Mr. Gayle's long residence in the United States and close family ties make him a strong candidate for immigration relief from a judge, allowing him to keep his green card and stay in this country.
When it comes to Mr. Gayle's family, the cost of losing him to immigration lock-up is devastating. Mr. Gayle is an emotional anchor in his family, supplying love and support to his children and grandchildren. It was Mr. Gayle who bought school supplies for his kids, taught them how to cook and how to sew a button on a torn shirt. At work, he was just as attentive as a skilled union carpenter, earning high praise from his employers over the past decade.
Today, the ACLU filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of Mr. Gayle and hundreds of immigrants in New Jersey who, like him, are subject to mandatory immigration detention. The lawsuit -- Gayle v. Napolitano -- challenges the federal government's policy of locking up immigrants in deportation proceedings without any chance for release on bail, even when they have strong arguments that they have a right to continue living in America. Many immigrants are locked up for as long as it takes to conclude their deportation cases, even if they pose no danger or flight risk.
Mandatory immigration lock-up is unconstitutional when used on people who, like Mr. Gayle, have strong arguments that they can stay in the country -- that's why the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project is bringing the case, along with the ACLU of New Jersey and Gibbons P.C. There is no reason to incarcerate people for months or even years on end when they have every incentive to show up in court, fight their cases, and win the right to stay in America with their loved ones. It's especially wasteful considering the offenses that trigger mandatory detention are often very old and overwhelmingly minor and nonviolent, such as misdemeanor drug possession, shoplifting, or turnstile jumping. Indeed, as with Mr. Gayle, the people placed in mandatory detention often do not meet the qualifications for deportation -- either because their alleged crimes turn out not to be deportable offenses, or because they are legally entitled to immigration relief allowing them to stay in the country.
Sadly, Mr. Gayle is far from alone. The number of immigration detainees has spiked since the passage of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, which requires the detention of immigrants deemed deportable based on an alleged crime -- a population largely made up by people of color. In 2011, the Department of Homeland Security imprisoned a record-breaking 429,000 immigrants in more than 250 facilities across the country. The cost of the current system, which holds up to 33,400 immigrants on any given day, costs $164 per head per day, adding up to a grand total of $2 billion annually. Immigration detention has been a windfall for the private prison industry, which is responsible for nearly half the detention population, at the expense of American taxpayers and American liberties. Many of these facilities are notorious for their substandard and inhumane conditions -- including the ten facilities targeted by the "Expose and Close" campaign launched today by Detention Watch Network to shut them down.

*Only facilities with an average daily population of 1 or more detained immigrants are included. Data for 2011 is through Sept. 9. Credits: The Investigative Reporting Workshop, Jacob Fenton, Catherine Rentz, Stokely Baksh and Lisa Hill. Source: ICE.

The ACLU's lawsuit seeks to end a practice that goes against fundamental American values of fairness and equal protection under the law. Immigrants like Mr. Gayle, who are locked up without hearings to determine if their detention is justified, deserve due process and constitutional rights. The ACLU is fighting to make sure those rights are protected.
 
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Monday, November 12, 2012

15 Inmates Escaped From New Jersey Halfway House During Hurricane Sandy

15 Inmates Escaped From New Jersey Halfway House During Hurricane Sandy

As Storm Raged, 15 Fled New Jersey Halfway House

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When the power failed at Logan Hall, a sprawling halfway house in Newark that resembles a prison, the rooms went dark.
Richard Perry/The New York Times
Logan Hall in Newark. All but one of the 15 inmates who escaped have been recaptured.
Multimedia
Then the locks clicked open.
What happened next is likely to fuel the debate over the future of the large, privately run halfway houses in New Jersey, which have been criticized for mismanagement and lax oversight.
As Hurricane Sandy raged outside, dozens of male inmates burst into Logan Hall’s corridors. They threatened female inmates, tore apart furniture and ripped signs inscribed with inspirational sayings from the walls, witnesses said.
At least 15 inmates escaped from the halfway house, including some who had served time for aggravated assault, weapons possession and armed robbery.
It was one of the largest mass escapes in the recent history of New Jersey’s corrections system, according to official statistics. All but one of the escapees have since been recaptured.
After the violence broke out on Oct. 29, about 50 law enforcement officers from at least four state and county agencies converged on Logan Hall, officials said. Many were called at home and told to report immediately to the halfway house.
Community Education Centers, the politically connected company that runs the 650-bed halfway house, appears to have done little if anything to prepare for the storm. The workers on duty, many of whom were poorly paid, did not know how to operate the backup generator, witnesses said. They did not even have flashlights.
Gov. Chris Christie has long been an outspoken supporter of Community Education, which dominates the halfway house system in New Jersey. The Christie administration has not publicly disclosed that there was a disturbance that night at Logan Hall.
Mr. Christie’s close friend and political adviser, William J. Palatucci, is a senior executive at Community Education. Mr. Palatucci announced last week that he would step down from the company. The company said the resignation was not related to the events at Logan Hall.
A spokesman for Mr. Christie referred questions about Logan Hall to the State Department of Corrections.
Both the Corrections Department and Community Education played down the violence and the escapes.
“To characterize this as some sort of mass prison break is a reckless exaggeration in support of a false narrative,” a department spokesman, Matthew Schuman, said.
He said any assessment of what happened had to take into consideration “the extraordinary circumstances” of the storm.
Community Education said in a statement, “A small number of the 547 residents did take advantage of the storm to create a minor disturbance and damaged a few vending machines.”
The company noted that no one suffered serious injuries at Logan Hall, and added that it did not experience problems during the storm at its five other large halfway houses in New Jersey.
Law enforcement officials, workers and others who were at Logan Hall acknowledged that Hurricane Sandy was highly unusual and caused difficulties for institutions across the New York region.
But they pointed out that none of New Jersey’s prisons or jails suffered such a violent outbreak during the storm.
Mayor Cory A. Booker of Newark, whose police force responded to the disturbance, called it “obviously a serious event.”
David Thomas, executive director of the State Parole Board, said in a statement that the disturbance was quelled by officers from four law enforcement agencies: the Newark police, the Essex County Sheriff’s Department, the Essex County Corrections Department and the Parole Board.
Essex County officials said they were investigating what happened and had assigned extra law enforcement officers to Logan Hall, which typically houses parolees and inmates from the county jail.
Democratic lawmakers in Trenton have called for an overhaul of the halfway houses since The New York Times published a series of articles in June that described escapes, violence, drug use and other problems in the system.
Since 2005, roughly 5,200 inmates and parolees have escaped from the state’s halfway houses, according to state records. Corrections experts said the high number of escapes was an indication that the system was troubled. The Christie administration has said in recent months that it has put in place measures to crack down on the escapes.
New Jersey has been at the forefront of the movement to use privately operated halfway houses to reduce corrections costs. The system handles thousands of inmates annually.
The disturbance at Logan Hall may have an impact on the Legislature’s scrutiny of the system.
Assemblyman Charles Mainor, a Hudson County Democrat who is chairman of the Law and Public Safety Committee, said he was troubled that the administration had not disclosed what happened.
“I did not know,” Mr. Mainor said. “Of course, they wouldn’t want me to know.”
A law enforcement officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to a reporter, recounted harrowing moments early on when the disturbance could have spiraled out of control. “The place was turned upside down,” said Joe Amato, president of the union representing Essex County corrections officers, which has long opposed the privately run halfway houses. “The inmates basically rioted.”
At one point, a group of men, many wearing improvised masks that revealed only their eyes, headed toward the back of the building, where the female inmates were held, according to workers and correction officers.
A supervisor tried to stop them, demanding to know where they were going.
“You know why we’re here!” an inmate replied, according to a halfway house worker and a corrections officer who were there.
The supervisor managed to fend them off. Workers then took the group of female inmates to a closed-off reception area, where they huddled together for safety until law enforcement officers arrived.
“With the power out, no generator, no flashlights — you can’t not be scared,” said a worker who was there.
Dozens of men then headed through the unlocked front door to an open lot facing the street. They took blankets to throw over the barbed wire and chairs to scale the fence, but soon saw that the equipment was unnecessary.
The gate was open.
Six of those who escaped were arrested quickly. Six others were caught more than three days later. Two were on the run for about a week, and one is still missing, officials said.
When calm was restored, corrections officers and workers said they discovered that one target of the inmates’ rage had been the signs in the hallways.
The signs bore motivational slogans like “Stop Lying” and “Admit When You Are Wrong.” They had been torn down and stomped on.




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