Contact:
Kathy O’Leary, Pax Christi NJ kolearypcnj@gmail.com; Olivia Abrecht, NYU Immigrant Rights Clinic, oja242@nyu.edu; Rebekah Entralgo, Freedom for Immigrants, rentralgo@freedomforimmigrants.org
HACKENSACK, NJ — As six people detained at the Bergen County Jail in New Jersey reach nearly a month on a hunger strike for freedom, two are slated to be transferred to Batavia Federal Detention Facility, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility near Buffalo, New York, according to community advocates and attorneys. One of the hunger strikers set to be transferred has resisted food for 26 days and has lost over 40 pounds.
This escalation from ICE follows previous acts of retaliation against the hunger strikers detained at the Bergen County Jail, including: denial of water, denial of medical care, denial of heat, blocked windows, and manipulation from facility staff. All the while, conditions at Bergen continue to deteriorate. A rodent infestation has impacted the entire facility and cleaning supplies are scarce and ineffective.
Advocates and attorneys express deep concerns that ICE transfers to Batavia, the site of a previous COVID-19 outbreak that accelerated the pandemic nationwide, both in local communities and in detention facilities, will place even more lives at risk. ICE’s recklessness and complete disregard for human life must be stopped. The agency must release all people from their facilities in the interest of public health.
“The transfer of people on hunger strike is also alarming given ICE’s recent history of transferring people from the Bergen County Jail to different jurisdictions for purposes of obtaining orders from federal courts to force-feed those exercising their First Amendment rights,” said Thria Bernabe from Ridgewood for Black Liberation. “We will continue to monitor ICE transfers of people on hunger strike and once again urge their immediate release.”
“Transferring those putting their bodies on their line for a chance of freedom is a clear act of retaliation,” said Tania Mattos, Policy and Northeast Monitoring Manager at Freedom for Immigrants. “The process separates people from their network of support, worsens the COVID-19 pandemic behind bars, and is directly responsible for the record number of deaths in ICE detention this year. Officials must act immediately to release those on hunger strike, and take substantive steps towards decarcerating ICE prisons.”
This is the second hunger strike at the Bergen County Jail in a one month period. Throughout their hunger strike, advocates have staged daily protests outside the jail in solidarity with those on hunger strike and everyone detained throughout New Jersey ICE prisons.
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The Abolish ICE NY-NJ coalition is comprised of organizations including Queer Detainee Empowerment Project, Pax Christi New Jersey, Doctors for Camp Closures, Freedom For Immigrants, North New Jersey DSA, NYC DSA, First Friends of NJ NY, Ridgewood for Black Liberation and others.