IRATE & First Friends Celebrates Release of Hundreds Immigrants from County Jails & Detention Centers

Posted on February 28, 2013 by Admin

Renews call for an end to continued waste of taxpayer dollars on the unjust incarceration of thousands more who pose no threat to public safety

Elizabeth, NJ- For almost two decades IRATE & First Friends has ministered to immigrants in detention, advocating for the release of asylum seekers and community members, provided referrals to pro-bono and low cost legal services and locating housing and providing assistance for those who were released.  Throughout this time the organization has been consistent in its position that immigration detention is immoral, unjust and unnecessary.  The following is a statement from Lorna Henkel, president of the board of trustees of IRATE & First Friends:

“The staff and board of IRATE & First Friends are jubilant over the news of the release of hundreds of immigrants from county jails and detention centers across the country, including dozens from New Jersey.  Though this is a move to cut costs and avoid furloughs and layoffs in the face of the pending sequester rather than the result of a shift in policy, the fact that people are being set free and reunited with friends and family provides cause to celebrate.

Since Immigration Customs Enforcement is stating that those have been and will be released in an effort to cut costs pose no threat to the community, it has, in effect admitted that it has been wasting taxpayer dollars by needlessly incarcerating people.

Further, despite reforms and new detention standards, the nearly 2500 immigrants in ICE custody in New Jersey’s county jails and the Elizabeth Detention Center and Delaney Hall are held under terrible conditions.  They are isolated from family, and often denied access to adequate, timely medical care, clergy and legal representation.  They are subject to abusive verbal, physical and emotional treatment and arbitrary punishment including solitary confinement.

In the wake of the admission by ICE that the detention of hundreds of immigrants is unnecessary and the recent revelation that ICE relied on a quota system to encourage the unjust incarceration of thousands more, we renew our call for an end to the arbitrary mass detention of immigrants and urge ICE to stop wasting taxpayer money with its needless incarceration of thousands of workers, parents, care-givers, breadwinners, and family members.”

For more information on this press release, contact:
Kathy O’Leary, vice-president, IRATE & First Friends, 973-610-1684, kolearypcnj@gmail.com
Gene Squeo, member board of trustees, IRATE & First Friends, 201-207-0112,genesqueo@rocketmail.com