Demonstrators held a rally in Elizabeth Thursday to protest an agreement between Hudson County and the federal government to house illegal immigration detainees.
The American Civil Liberties Union is working along with New Jersey religious leaders in a lawsuit against the Hudson County Freeholders. The group wants the court to void a vote that that extends an agreement to house immigration detainees at the county jail in Kearny.
The group says that the county announced that the agreement will end in 2020, but they say that this is not soon enough.
"That's a long way away. You're going to get these counties so used to making money off a commodity, which is black and brown bodies from around the world, that they're going to get used to having their taxes covered by the federal government pumping money into the county,” says Reverend Seth Kaper-Dale.
The group says that the counties should provide alternative to jail detention.