NJ lawmakers attempt to limit ICE as agency plots expansion
The group chanted “bring them home” and urged legislators to stop funding ICE as democrats Sen. Cory Booker, Rep. LaMonica McIver and Rep. Rob Menendez spoke outside Delaney Hall.
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New Jersey lawmakers who visited Newark’s Delaney Hall - the East Coast’s largest immigrant detention center - on Friday were greeted by constituents demanding more action.
The group chanted “bring them home” and urged legislators to stop funding ICE as democrats Sen. Cory Booker, Rep. LaMonica McIver and Rep. Rob Menendez spoke outside Delaney Hall.
Booker announced he’s reintroducing a bill, known as the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act, which he first introduced in 2023.
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“This bill will end the use of private for-profit detention centers, stop the use of solidarity confinement, repeal mandatory detention and demand stronger oversight of the immigration system,” McIver said.
ICE is reportedly looking at a warehouse in Roxbury to serve as the state’s third detention facility - along with Delaney Hall and another in Elizabeth.
“Fundamentally, it should not be here,” Booker said. “In addition to that, they should not be expanding in the state of New Jersey. That's why I was in Roxbury earlier, and local leaders there have rejected the idea of putting an ICE facility there.”
Delaney Hall is run by The GEO Group, which received a 15-year-contract from ICE for the 1,000-bed facility.
