FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 24, 2021

Media Contact: Jeff Migliozzi; jmigliozzi@freedomforimmigrants.org, 323-579-1506

TRENTON, N.J. – Lawmakers in New Jersey today advanced legislation that would prohibit the state from entering into or renewing contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), sending the bill to Governor Phil Murphy’s desk.

Following passage of the legislation in the Assembly on Monday, the Senate approved its version of the bill this afternoon. The bill’s passage comes on the heels of several other states passing similar legislation to end private immigration detention, including Illinois, Washington, among others. This historic action came as a dozen immigrants at Bergen County Jail went on hunger strike in protest of their unjust detention.

Freedom for Immigrants supports this legislation and applauds lawmakers for taking steps to phase out immigrant detention, especially in the face of inaction at the federal level.

The following statement is from Tania Mattos, Policy and Northeast Monitoring Manager with Freedom for Immigrants.

“The Legislature took a historic action today, and the days of locking people up in New Jersey immigration detention centers are numbered. This action to end immigration detention contracts is a result of years of resistance from those on the inside and the organizing of communities and allies on the outside.

“While we celebrate this progress, we urge the Governor to sign this bill into law without delay. We also call on those same lawmakers who voted to pass this significant legislation to commit to releasing the nearly 300 people who remain detained in the state’s three ICE prisons. Support for this bill must be accompanied by a call for releases. ICE has already begun transferring members of our community out of state – a reckless action that places immigrants in harm’s way. As this legislation recognizes, people are safest when they are home and with their communities.”

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Freedom for Immigrants is devoted to abolishing immigration detention, while ending the isolation of people currently suffering in this profit-driven system. Visit https://www.freedomforimmigrants.org/ to learn more.