Breaking - Newark mayor arrested by ICE

[cliffside]

50. More background of the story with links and excerpts ...

https://patch.com/new-jersey/newarknj/newark-mayor-arrested-protesting-new-ice-detention-facility

"...The reopening of Delaney Hall has seen pushback from Newark officials, who issued a “stop work” order in late March and have filed a lawsuit against the GEO Group. See Related: Newark Issues 'Stop Work' Order On New ICE Detention Center

The city’s mayor accused ICE of opening the facility “without following proper building safety protocols” and without the necessary construction permits, continued certificates of occupancy and requests to change the building’s use.

“They failed to give city officials access to conduct inspections required under municipal ordinances and state code,” Baraka alleged. “This violates city and state law.”

And the not so great part in the above link.

"...The GEO Group and CoreCivic – which runs the Elizabeth Detention Center in Union County – have challenged the state ban in court. The administration of former president Joe Biden took the side of private prison companies in that case, arguing that ICE needed detention centers near airports to expedite operations. A judge ruled in 2023 that CoreCivic could keep its jail in Elizabeth open..."


Prison Company Foresees ‘Unprecedented' Revenue, Announces Massive Newark ICE Lock-Up
https://patch.com/new-jersey/newarknj/prison-company-foresees-unprecedented-revenue-announces-massive-newark-ice-lock

Posted Fri, Feb 28, 2025

"...The Biden administration took the side of private prison companies in that case, arguing in federal court papers that ICE needed detention centers near airports to expedite operations.

“Without a nearby facility, turnaround cases would either remain in the airport for days waiting for their return flight, or be released into the United States with little hope that they would actually depart as required by law,” a statement of interest written by Robert Guadian, Deputy Assistant Director for Field Operations at ICE and DHS in July of 2023. “Second, forcing ICE to close the Elizabeth facility would likely prevent ICE from detaining noncitizens with violent criminal histories that are released from state and local facilities.”

In a statement, U.S. Senator Cory Booker slammed GEO Group’s new contract, saying he’d urged the Biden administration not to reopen Delaney Hall last year.

“GEO Group has a documented history of gross neglect, including malnourishment, inhumane living conditions, forced labor, and the physical and sexual abuse of people detained at its facilities. Yet this administration is cutting them a $1 billion check,” said Booker, a former Newark mayor..."


Prison Company Wants To Bring ICE Detainees To Newark – Despite NJ Ban
https://patch.com/new-jersey/newarknj/prison-company-wants-bring-ice-detainees-newark-despite-nj-ban

"NEWARK, NJ — Nearly three years ago, New Jersey passed a landmark law that bans prisons from making deals with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hold potential deportees, a move that advocates cheered as a major win. But since then, the law has been challenged in court by a private prison corporation that alleges it is “unconstitutional.”

... The GEO Group – one of the largest private prison companies in the nation – has filed a lawsuit against New Jersey state officials, seeking a way around the law in an effort to house up to 600 immigrant detainees at a detention center it owns in Newark, the New Jersey Monitor reported Friday.

...Delaney Hall also previously held up to 450 immigration detainees for ICE from 2011 through 2017, including prisoners from Texas, Louisiana and other states. It’s a source of revenue that the company is seeking to recapture – if it can navigate past New Jersey’s law.

Passed in 2021, the state law bans all prisons in the state – public or private – from making new contracts with ICE to hold federal detainees. Prisons also can’t expand or renew old agreements..."