New Jersey’s ban on immigration detention centers challenged in heated lawsuit as $100 million contract hangs in the balance

A Florida company that wants to open a new immigration detention center in Newark is suing to overturn New Jersey’s ban on such facilities, saying the policy violates the Constitution.

GEO Group said in its lawsuit that the state’s ban torpedoed its plans for Delaney Hall, a 1,196-bed private facility that has held inmates from various counties, state and federal institutions for the past 25 years.

This could cost GEO a lot of money, namely a contract with U.S. Immigration, Customs and Enforcement worth more than $100 million, according to the lawsuit.

The group’s lawyers say the state had no right to pass the law because it violates the Constitution’s supremacy clause — which states that federal law generally takes precedence over any state law that overrides it. contradicted.

“(The Act) undermines and blocks the implementation and enforcement of the immigration law funded and approved by Congress…in the State of New Jersey,” the suit states.

“(The Act) therefore conflicts with federal immigration law, interferes with the purpose of federal immigration law, presents a substantial obstacle to the purposes of Congress in enacting federal immigration law, and , by interfering with federal immigration law, unduly enters an area where Congress has demonstrated its intention to occupy the entire field.

Garden State Gov. Phil Murphy and Attorney General Matthew Platkin were named as defendants in the lawsuit filed April 15 in federal court in Trenton.

Murphy’s office did not respond to a request for comment, while representatives for ICE and the attorney general declined to comment.

New Jersey has a complicated history with immigration detention centers, which brought tens of millions of dollars to Bergen, Essex and Hudson counties before Murphy signed the August 2021 ban, according to the NJ Monitor.

For several years before, immigration advocates had pilloried Democratic-led counties for speaking out against conservative immigration policies while making money on the backs of those they imprisoned.

A federal judge declared the law partially unconstitutional last year after another private company, CoreCivic, challenged it on similar grounds, according to the lawsuit.

The same judge who heard that case – District Court Judge Robert Kirsch – will hear GEO’s appeal.

“GEO seeks the same relief in this lawsuit,” the attorneys wrote.

GEO currently contracts with ICE to manage more than 20 different facilities across the United States, with a total capacity of approximately 19,000 beds, according to the suit.

But the for-profit prison company has been the subject of numerous allegations of abuse over the years, according to media reports.

Last August, protesters in San Francisco demanded an end to what they called “continued abuse of ICE detainees,” according to CBS News.

“Detainees awaiting deportation proceedings reported experiencing violence, medical neglect, sexual abuse, malnutrition and generally poor living conditions,” CBS said. “According to detainees, when they raise concerns with ICE, they are ignored and often face retaliation. »

Other complaints and lawsuits against the company have struck a chord.

GEO has denied all of these allegations, saying in a statement that each ICE processing center provides “24-hour access to medical care” of all types.

It also gives detainees access to legal and religious services, recreational activities and three “high-quality daily meals, based on menus approved by ICE and a registered dietitian,” according to a spokesperson.

“We take our role as a service provider to the federal government with the utmost seriousness and strive to treat everyone entrusted to our care with dignity and respect,” the statement said. “GEO has a long-standing commitment to respecting the human rights of those in our care and adopting ethical practices in all aspects of our services. »

In New Jersey, GEO already owns Delaney Hall, an intimidating prison lined with fences and barbed wire perched on a narrow strip of land between the New Jersey Turnpike and the waters of Newark Bay.

From 2011 to 2017, the complex housed up to 450 immigrant detainees, including people from Texas, Louisiana and beyond.

Last May, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a request for information to identify possible detention sites to house undocumented immigrants, under the control of ICE’s Newark field office.

GEO proposed using Delaney, which it claims has spent millions upgrading to comply with federal standards.

“GEO has a realistic chance of obtaining a contract from ICE to provide immigration detention services at the Delaney Hall facility,” the attorneys wrote. “But for the effect of (the law).”