We are also requesting volunteer note takers who are comfortable presenting valid ID to observe the hearing from inside the courthouse and summarize arguments and decisions for advocates, activists, and media on the outside.

There are trains from Amtrak, NJ Transit, and SEPTA that will take you within a few blocks of the federal courthouse.

NJAIJ has a limited transportation stipend pool to help offset costs for organizations who are carpooling and bringing others. If you would like to apply for this support, please contact Aidee Pascual at apascual@njimmigrantjustice.org.

Volunteers who wish to support the Court Watch should bring valid government ID and be prepared to surrender cell phones, tablets, and laptops at security. Volunteers who wish to remain outside at the demonstration are advised to wear clothes suitable for the outdoors. Water will be provided!

Please consider joining us. Additional details about the impact of this decision are below. Thank you again for your leadership and continued fight!

Solidarity,
Team NJAIJ

Learn More:
CoreCivic filed a lawsuit in February to keep NJ’s anti-detention bill AB5207 from going into effect and to keep the notorious Elizabeth Detention Center open past its contract end date of 8/31/2023. 
Unfortunately, the Biden administration has chosen the side of the private prison company and filed an amicus brief in favor of the EDC staying open.
We intend to be there to show that a broad range of constituencies are opposed to the for-profit prison company CoreCivic’s ICE detention center being allowed to remain in our state. 
Throwing ICE detention out of our state is part of a grassroots effort to keep our neighbors safe from detention and deportation.

In 2022 the Immigrant Legal Resources Center and Detention Watch Network issued a report called “Build It and They Will Fill It”. It showed that a detention facility with the capacity of the EDC meant that immigrants in the surrounding communities were over 2.6 times more likely to be detained by ICE.