Friday, December 28, 2012

Sandy put ICE detainees in danger: Opinion

Sandy put ICE detainees in danger: Opinion

Sandy put ICE detainees in danger: Opinion

Published: Thursday, December 27, 2012, 7:00 AM     Updated: Thursday, December 27, 2012, 7:05 AM
Delaney Hall in Newark Delaney Hall, Newark.  
By Karina Wilkinson
Eunice Lee’s harrowing account (“Sandy trapped guards and staff at Essex County jail,” Dec. 9) of the conditions inside Essex County Correctional Facility and the damage sustained by the flooding during and after Hurricane Sandy, reminds us that it wasn’t a good idea to expand detention in New Jersey last year by adding 750 immigration detention beds to two facilities in Newark.
Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s response, when asked for more public information a week after the storm, was that “all of our detainees in the Northeast have access to hot meals, hot water, phone, etc.” Lee’s report reveals that wasn’t the case in the immediate aftermath of the storm: “For four days, inmates had no hot showers and were served cold food.” I’m not sure when phone service was restored at the Essex County jail, but phones were out for periods at the facilities, as was heat.
The Hudson County jail, Essex County jail and the adjacent Delaney Hall were surrounded by water from a 5-foot storm surge in the Newark Bay. The flooding outside made them inaccessible to even Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, who made an attempt to get to the jail and himself had to be rescued.
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Essex and Hudson county jails flooded, and some detained immigrants in ICE’s custody had to be moved to higher floors. The three facilities together are under agreements that allow them to house as many as 1,500 ICE detainees, two-thirds of the detention capacity of the state. How could ICE or the counties ensure the safety of people in their custody when access was cut off — for two days, in the case of Essex County? ICE needed to do its due diligence on the disaster plans for New Jersey facilities. What is ICE’s evacuation plan for detained immigrants in New Jersey? And what type of disaster would it take to trigger it, if not Sandy? Was there any thought to reassuring the public or getting information out about the status of the facilities in the aftermath? It looks like ICE was negligent.
Doremus Avenue, where Essex County jail and Delaney Hall are located, has many sites contaminated with chemicals, and the nearby Passaic Valley Sewerage Authority lost power and released hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated sewage during the storm. Residents of the Ironbound district of Newark are being advised by the EPA to use “N95” respirators to enter homes that were flooded, partly because of a nearby Superfund site. The EPA needs to test affected facilities to determine whether they are still inhabitable.
It happened that the detention facilities back-up generators weren’t overwhelmed and power wasn’t completely lost for a week, as it was in a Newark prison, Northern State.
And it happened that the electronic doors in Delaney Hall didn’t unlock, as they did in another Newark facility run by the same company, Community Education Centers. The mayhem in the other CEC facility had to be brought under to control by four law enforcement agencies. As bad as they were, the effects could have been much worse for the detention facilities.
While Hudson County’s jail was named by Detention Watch Network as one of the 10 worst facilities in the country, this is a reminder that ICE shouldn’t be using any jails for immigration detention. Detention is not supposed to be punishment.
Monmouth County Coalition for Immigrant Rights renews its call for ICE to end unnecessary detention of immigrant men and women, to prepare adequately for disasters and states of emergency, and to provide up-to-date information to the public. We also call for EPA testing of the facilities affected by the Newark Bay storm surge.
Karina Wilkinson of Highland Park is co-founder of the Monmouth County Coalition for Immigrant Rights.


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Wednesday, December 19, 2012

International Migrants Day at The Rodino Federal Building (12-18-12) : P...




Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale has co-pastored the Reformed Church of Highland Park for 11 years.  He is a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, and spent formative time in Ecuador and India before coming to RCHP.

Seth and wife/co-pastor Stephanie Kaper-Dale have been married for 15 years and have 3 daughters.  Seth co-formed Who Is My Neighbor Inc (HP community development agency), started RCHP-Affordable Housing Corporation and spearheads much of the Immigration work of the church.

You can find more about the incredible things he and his church are doing here:

http://rchighlandpark.org/
http://www.facebook.com/ReformedChurchOfHighlandPark

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Migrant Families Speak Out & Rally for Humane Immigration Policy on International Migrants Day

On International Migrants Day, Migrant Families Speak Out & Community Members Rally for Humane Immigration Policy

Newark, NJ  (December 18th, 2012) -- On December 18 International Migrants Day, advocates, immigrant families and community members will speak out and rally at the federal office building in Newark NJ to demand the Obama Administration shift away from deportation policies that separate families. During the first Obama administration, a record 1.4 million immigrants have been deported.

http://www.facebook.com/events/492077704157400/#

"Family speak out" will be moderated by a young woman whose life has been turned upside down by broken immigration policy. Her story can be found at http://www.afsc.org/story/keeping-family-together-nieces-fight-immigration-reform

For years, migrant families in the U.S. have to struggle with the lack of immigration status and keeping their families together. "I know many families including mine are facing imminent family separation," said Kokou, father of two girls, "no parent wants to see their children grow up on their own."

On International Migrants Day, migrant families that have been separated by current policy will gather and speak about their experiences and demand the Administration use its discretion to allow immigrants to stay with their children and family members. Immigrant and citizen community members will also rally to demand the U.S. Congress pass humane immigration policy that upholds human rights and family values.

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker peace and social justice organization, is planning a series of events to mark International Human Rights Day, December 10, and International Migrants Day, December 18. Through this coast-to-coast effort, AFSC is calling on Congress and the Obama administration to halt policies that separate families and militarizes communities. For a complete list of human rights activities, visit www.afsc.org

What: Migrant Families Speak Out & Rally for Humane Immigration Policy
Where: Federal Office Building at 970 Broad Street, Newark, NJ
When: DECEMBER 18, 2012; 4pm - 5pm 
                                             
Contact: Pauline Ndzie, community member, 973-563-0798
Chia-Chia Wang, American Friends Service Committee, 646-509-3860

You can find out more about American Friends Service Committee's Immigrant Rights Program in Newark and the amazing work they do by looking here:

https://afsc.org/program/immigrant-rights-program-newark-nj
http://www.facebook.com/pages/AFSC-Immigrant-Rights-Program/184778154878751
http://www.immigrationadvocates.org/nonprofit/legaldirectory/organization.393104-American_Friends_Service_Committee_Immigrant_Rights_Program_Newark_Office
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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

The “New Normal” for Immigration Detention in New Jersey

The “New Normal” for Immigration Detention in New Jersey

The “New Normal” for Immigration Detention in New Jersey

December 12, 2012

A Call for Environmental Testing and ICE/County Accountability in Sandy Aftermath

By Karina Wilkinson, Co-Founder of Monmouth County Coalition for Immigrant Rights, Kwilkinson_act@yahoo.com. Cross-posted from CIVIC’s blog.
Screen Shot 2012-12-12 at 11.02.29 AMEST
Instagram photo by Djknyce
Newark, NJ – In case anyone needed reminding about why it wasn’t a good idea to expand detention in New Jersey by adding 750 beds last year to two facilities in Newark, the Star Ledger reported Sunday on conditions inside Essex County jail and the damage sustained by the flooding during and after Hurricane Sandy.  The account is harrowing and the pictures, disturbing.
When I emailed ICE to ask for more public information a week after the storm, the response I got was that “all of our detainees in the Northeast have access to hot meals, hot water, phone, etc.”  Sunday’s report on Essex jail reveals that wasn’t the case in the immediate aftermath of the storm: “For four days, inmates had no hot showers and were served cold food.” I’m not sure when phone service was restored at Essex, but phones were out for periods at the facilities, as was heat.
HudsonEssex, and the adjacent Delaney Hall were surrounded by water from a five foot storm surge in the Newark Bay.  The flooding outside made them inaccessible to even County Executive DiVincenzo, who made some sort of heroic (?) attempt to get to the jail and himself had to be rescued.
Essex and Hudson County jails flooded inside, and detained immigrants in ICE’s custody had to be moved to higher floors. The three facilities together are under agreements that allow them to house as many as 1,500 ICE detainees, two thirds of the detention capacity of the state.  How could ICE or the counties ensure the safety of people in their custody when access was cut off – for two days in the case of Essex?
There is a long-standing joke that the Essex County jail evacuation plan has to involve boats, which isn’t so funny anymore. ICE needed to do its due diligence on the disaster plans for New Jersey facilities. What is ICE’s evacuation plan for detained immigrants in New Jersey?  And what type of disaster would it take to trigger it, if not Sandy? Was there any thought to reassuring the public or getting information out about the status of the facilities in the aftermath?
Doremus Avenue, where Essex and Delaney Hall are located, has many sites contaminated with chemicals, and the nearby Passaic Valley Sewerage Authority lost power and released hundreds of millions of gallons of untreated sewage during the storm. Residents of the Ironbound district of Newark are being advised by the EPA to use “N95” respirators to enter homes that were flooded, partly because of a nearby Superfund site. The EPA needs to test affected facilities to determine whether they are still inhabitable.
It happened that the detention facilities’ back-up generators weren’t overwhelmed, and power wasn’t completely lost for a week, like it was in a Newark prison, Northern State.  And it happened that the electronic doors in Delaney Hall didn’t unlock like they did in another Newark facility run by the same company, Community Education Centers (CEC).  Four law enforcement agencies were called in to bring mayhem under control in the other CEC facility.  As bad as they were, the effects could have been much worse for the detention facilities.
While the Detention Watch Network named Hudson one of the ten worst facilities in the country, this is a reminder that ICE shouldn’t be using any jails for immigration detention. Detention is not supposed to be punishment.
Monmouth County Coalition for Immigrant Rights renews its call for ICE to end unnecessary detention of immigrant men and women, to prepare adequately for disasters and states of emergency and to provide up to date information to the public.  We also call for EPA testing of the facilities affected by the Newark Bay storm surge.