What's happening with ICE in NY & NJ?

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH ICE IN NY AND NJ?

The first COVID-19 case in an ICE facility was at Bergen County Jail in Hackensack, NJ. Bergen County Jail is just one out of four ICE facilities in NJ. Bergen, Essex and Hudson counties each have a contract with ICE in which ICE pays each county between $110 and $120/day for every immigrant detained, a disproportionate amount of whom are Black and Brown. The fourth facility is the Elizabeth Detention Center, which is run by the private for-profit company CoreCivic, but owned by a local company, The Elberon Development Group.

The pandemic, coupled with the inhumane conditions inside, such as a rat infestation,

rat carcasses in the food, mold on the walls, a lack of drinking water that forced people to drink water from the toilet, sexual and physical abuse from the guards, and medical neglect, led to many people detained by ICE in NJ and NY going on hunger strike.

Over 170 people inside ICE facilities across NY and NJ went on hunger strike since the beginning of the pandemic. Only a handful have been released. Often, those on hunger strike were put on suicide watch (essentially a de facto solitary confinement), beaten, transferred to facilities (Texas, Florida), or deported as retaliation. They faced brutal repression and had their humanity stripped away from them.

This zine is a compilation of testimonies from people detained by ICE and their families.