HUDSON COUNTY, N.J. (1010 WINS) -- The Hudson County Freeholders board Tuesday night to voted to renew a new 10-year jail contract to ICE, by a 6-3 vote following a 10-hour deliberation.
Almost 100 speakers including attorneys and immigration advocates addressed the board against the contract arguing that detainees are locked inside their cells 23 of 24 hours of the day.
Hudson County has housed immigrant detainees at the county jail since the mid-1990s and pays the county $120 per detainee per day.
Its current agreement expires at the end of the year with the new contract set to generate $8 million in revenue this year, according to Hudson County spokesman James Kennelly.
In 2018, ICE was billed nearly $27.4 million by Hudson County to house detainees.
The number of detainees fell to under 100 this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In September 2018, Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise suggested that a consensus had been reached on exiting the contract by the end of 2020.
Jersey City Councilmen Rolando Lavarro who was among those calling for the end of the contract with ICE wanted the county to follow through and end the contract.
"We believe that Hudson County should honor their 2018 commitment to exit the contract with ICE," said Lavarro, reading from a joint statement from Jersey City Council President Joyce Watterman, Councilwoman Mira Prinz-Arey, Councilman Yousef Saleh and Solomon.
"As representatives in the nation's most diverse city, we must do all in our power to end ICE's system of immigrant detention that has led to so many abuses. Our county representatives made a promise to exit this contract by the end of 2020, and we expect them to live by their word."
