Residents, advocacy groups urge Union County to block sale of jail for immigration detention, demand RFP restrictions

Hundreds of residents, clergy and civil-rights advocates addressed the Union County Board of County Commissioners during the public-comment portion of the meeting to oppose any sale or lease of the county jail that could enable immigration detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or for‑profit prison operators.

Speakers represented organizations including Make the Road New Jersey, Resistencia, Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center, the ACLU of New Jersey and Pax Christi. Common themes were calls for the board to restrict any future RFP so the property cannot be used for immigrant detention, to issue a public resolution opposing use of the facility for that purpose, and to consider alternative community uses such as transitional housing or job‑training programs.

Amika Chalia, speaking for the ACLU of New Jersey, warned the commission that proceeding without an RFP containing restrictions would “go completely against everything you have heard from people of this community and of this county and of this state.” Citing reporting she said indicated Delaney Hall in Newark was operating at about 15 percent capacity, Chalia said nearby beds would make local enforcement more intense and asked: “Whose families will be torn apart?”

Multiple speakers described encounters at Delaney Hall and the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka during a demonstration there. Adam McGovern of Wind of the Spirit asked the board to disclose the draft RFP and the terms under which the county would accept bids. “I want to see what's in that RFP and when you'll reveal it to the light of day and to your own constituent's view,” he said. Several speakers urged the county to legally restrict the bid before proposals are accepted so the county is not compelled by law to accept the highest monetary offer if it is from a private prison operator.

Other speakers cited rights and religious arguments, recounted experiences of people detained at immigration facilities, or urged economic alternatives to incarceration. A number of speakers named private operators CoreCivic and GEO Group as companies they feared could run a detention facility and urged commissioners to block any sale to those companies.

Commissioners responded during the meeting. Commissioner Williams said the RFP process “has not been completed as yet” and characterized the current step as gauging interest in the property, not an automatic approval for a detention facility. Commissioner Granados and others told speakers the board is listening and that several commissioners oppose using the site as a detention facility. County officials did not adopt a resolution banning sale for detention during the meeting.

Speakers who raised specific procedural or legal concerns included Arman Aliaskarpur, a representative of a local bidder, who referenced NJ contracting statutes when questioning whether a bid and subsequent contract could be split among vendors. The board's solicitor said objections filed on the RCCP bid had been reviewed and recommended proceeding with awarding that resolution.

No formal vote specifically restricting use of the jail property for immigration detention was recorded at the meeting; commissioners said further steps would follow as the RFP process continues.