CoreCivic, which operates an immigrant jail in Elizabeth, alleges a state law barring immigration detention violates federal law. (Sophie Nieto-Muñoz | New Jersey Monitor)
Republished with permission from New Jersey Monitor
A federal appeals court will hold a hearing in seven weeks to hear debate on a New Jersey law that bars immigrant detention.
The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals told lawyers for the state and private prison firm CoreCivic on Tuesday that the case has been scheduled for the week of April 28. That’s more than 18 months after New Jersey filed an appeal in the matter.
CoreCivic runs the Elizabeth Detention Center, which houses immigrants detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
After Gov. Phil Murphy in 2021 signed a law barring private and public entities from entering contracts with ICE to detain immigrants, CoreCivic sued, alleging the law is unconstitutional. A federal judge partially sided with CoreCivic in August 2023, calling the law “naked interference” with federal immigration enforcement as it pertains to private companies.
New Jersey appealed, but until Tuesday the 3rd Circuit had not scheduled a time to hear the case.
News of the upcoming hearing was first reported by the New Jersey Globe.
New Jersey’s initial loss in the CoreCivic case paved the way for another private firm, Geo Group, to plan a second immigration detention center in Newark at a facility called Delaney Hall. Geo Group said last month it plans to house as many as 1,000 immigrants in the facility starting as early as June.
The Trump administration has touted the Delaney Hall plan as key to its mass detention and deportation efforts. Pro-immigrant advocates have vowed to prevent it from opening.
