All eight of New Jersey’s Democratic House members have sent a letter to U.S. Attorney Merrick Garland calling for the federal Department of Justice to reverse course on its support of private immigration detention centers in the state.
The Biden administration wrote a letter of support for the centers in the federal court case brought against the state last year, after New Jersey passed a law banning private facilities from entering into federal contracts to detain migrants. The federal judge in the case ruled to allow the Elizabeth Detention Center, the last remaining detention center in New Jersey to remain open.
U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez (D-8th) on Tuesday sat down with NJ Spotlight News and outlined why he and many of his Democratic colleagues in the House think the Biden administration is wrong on this issue. He also was critical of the president’s recent announcement that asylum seekers will be stopped at the border unless they enter through a lawful process. He said a main concern is that a new detention center, operated by the Florida-based GEO group, could expand into Delaney Hall in Newark while the court case is on appeal.
“These are executive decisions, these are the administration making these decisions through DHS, through ICE, and we believe they are the wrong decisions,” Menendez said. “So we’re going to combat this on all fronts. It doesn’t matter what sort of setbacks we face based on court decisions, we’re going to keep hammering this issue, because it’s the wrong thing for New Jersey, it’s the wrong thing for our constituents.”
