Bergen Is the Latest, and Last, New Jersey County To End Cooperation with ICE

The last county in New Jersey with an immigrant detention operation is pulling of its deal with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. On Wednesday, Bergen County commissioners ratified a new contract between the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bergen County Sheriff's Office that brings as many as 175 federal inmates to the county jail at a rate of $125 per day—but forbids admission of immigrant detainees who are under the jurisdiction of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

For years, Bergen held hundreds of ICE detainees at a time, mostly from New York City. That brought in $40 million during the Trump Administration's crackdown on immigrants without documentation. But immigrants held there complained of inhumane conditions, and anti-ICE activism—protests outside the jail, and hunger strikes inside it—became a headache for Bergen's Democratic leaders. Democratic Sheriff Anthony Cureton, who runs the jail, is up for reelection next month.

Bergen follows Essex County, which ended its ICE arrangement over the summer, and Hudson County, which after reversing an initial contract cancellation announcement now says it will be out of its deal by next month. Governor Phil Murphy also recently signed a bill into law banning new or renewed ICE detention contracts in the state. 

Once detainees leave the facility in 45 days, it will mark a victory for activists who want to abolish ICE, but is a concern for some advocates who fear local detainees will now be transferred far from their families and attorneys.

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