By now you may have seen several of our recent action alerts about the growing furor over multimillion dollar contracts several NJ counties have with ICE to house immigrant detainees in our county jails.

With recent news reports (click here to read a WNYC report from earlier this week.)

Several of us from UU FaithAction NJ attended county freeholder meetings Weds. and Thursday of this week in Essex and Hudson Counties respectively.  You can see a picture and some thoughts from both these meetings on our FB page here.

With the increased press and mounting frustration–and really, horror–at the size, pace and intention of the Trump administration’s campaign to round up undocumented immigrants, children AND asylum seekers there is mounting pressure to DO SOMETHING IN NEW JERSEY.

There is a renewed call in some quarters to pressure elected county officials to end their jail bed contract with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

Progressives, including UU FaithAction supporters and our allies, are suddenly caught in a difficult position.

On the one hand, our usual coalition partners (American Friends Service Committee, NJ Alliance for Immigrant Justice, First Friends, Wind of the Spirit and others)–though they continue to call for the immediate end of ICE’s veritable “war” on immigrants and the jailing of detainees in criminal settings, separating children from families, and denying potential asylum seekers at the border (now to include those fleeing gang and domestic violence, according to Attorney General Jeffery Beauregard Sessions)–do not support is the immediate or imminent closure of ICE contracts wtih Hudson, Bergen, Cape May and Essex counties.

On the other hand, it raises the legitimate question, being raised publicly by our concerned progressive partners at Resist the Deportation Machine Coalition and national immigrant-led group COSECHA: Why not? 

These groups–who are gaining support and greater news coverage with their direct challenge to the Democratic county freeholders and vested interests–demand to know why we wouldn’t support an end to these morallly indefensible contracts that–in the case of my own county, Essex–brings in $36 million dollars ANNUALLY to the county budget, on the backs of thousands of immigrant black and brown detainees.

Many of us have struggled these past several weeks with that question.  Below is our response as UU FaithAction NJ.  In the meantime, we hope you will share this Education Alert with your congregations, ministers, neighbors and friends who may–in their desire to do SOMETHING–be swayed to agree with the END ICE CONTRACTS NOW argument which, in our analyses, would do THE WRONG THING AT THIS MOMENT IN TIME.

PLEASE CONSIDER THIS CAREFULLY: what detainees and their families have been telling us for several years now, and what we continue to fear given the Trump administration’s deep antipathy towards immigrants from south of our border, is that CLOSING THESE LOCAL FACILITIES WILL NOT FREE OR OTHERWISE MAKE THE DETAINEES’ SITUATION BETTER.

The simple truth is that NJ counties have no control over the actual status of the Federally-governed, ICE-administered “inmates.”  The perverse (and most likely scenario) if we end ICE contracts in NJ is that the Trump administration would simply transfer detainees from NJ to more distant and more Republican states, out of the reach of their families, to state and local governments even less concerned with their dignity or welfare.

Here is a useful short statement from Sally Pillay of First Friends, a group that supports detainees in the various jails and helps them when they are released:

“We care about the plight of individuals incarcerated, and we believe if the facilities are closed in New Jersey, then ICE will transfer individuals to remote locations where there is no access to advocates holding ICE and facilities accountable to the conditions,” she said. “These individuals will suffer more without support.”

What can you do in the midst of all the fray?  Sign this petition and educate your congregation, clergy, liaisons and anyone else you can think of in NJ on the Fair and Welcoming STATE movement currently before the Governor and others.  The link is here:  https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/new-jersey-leadership-make-new-jersey-fair-and-welcoming-to-all-protect-families-from-deportation 

Do you have a more relaxed coffee hour, fellowship time, worship setting during the summer?  Please consider championing this issue as a topic of conversation sometime over the next few weeks.

Below is a synopsis of what we and others are calling for through the Fair and Welcoming State initiative.  We of course recognize that among UUs, as among all individuals, there will be, at times, differences of opinion among well-meaning and informed individuals.  We appreciate the continued sharing of ideas, news and opinion among all UUs and our friends (this often happens on our FB page, link above.)

New Jersey must end all relationships with ICE and CBP now 

• We call on our state leadership to declare New Jersey a Fair and Welcoming state by ensuring that no state, county, or local New Jersey agency, department, or law enforcement body is involved in cruel and unjust detention and deportations.
• New Jersey has the third largest percentage of immigrant population in the United States with thousands of immigrant families and children who are fearful of ICE detention and deportation. Children are traumatized by this separation and uncertainty over their future.
• Our state and local taxpayer resources – including funds, facilities, equipment, and staff – should not be used for civil federal immigration enforcement.
• Our families deserve to go to school, shelters, hospitals, courthouses, police stations, and state agencies without fearing ICE’s presence in those space.
• Our local and state resources must not be used to detain our immigrant families for federal immigration enforcement purposes. New Jersey will not be a part of this system of family separations.
• In addition, New Jersey leadership should expand access to driver’s licenses for all so that people won’t have to fear that driving without a license will lead to a referral to ICE and family separation

As ever, we appreciate your ongoing support and the free and respectful exchange of ideas among all of us who care about the inherent worth and dignity of our immigrant neighbors and friends, regardless of their official status.

In faith, with love, for justice,

Ted Fetter, Immigration Reform Task Force Chair

Rev. Rob Gregson, Exec. Director, UU FaithAction NJ