curbing The Surge at the U.S Southern border President Biden this week proposed new immigration rules that some critics argue look a lot like an old policy from the Trump Administration it would forbid some migrants from seeking asylum in the U.S if they cross the border illegally or fail to First apply for Safe Harbor in one of the countries they passed through enroute to the border the new policy is set to go into effect May 11th when title 42 ends that was the pandemic era Health rule Federal officials say enabled them to expel some 2 million migrants since March 2020 due to covet risks immigration policy has been a hot button issue in New Jersey too where just one immigration Detention Center remains housing 116 migrants and this week that prison announced it's suing the state attorney general and Murphy Administration over a recent law Banning anyone from Contracting with U.S systems and immigration enforcement Raven Santana reports really the stories that come back from volunteers and from released people who were formerly detained to have been released it's just that detention is utter misery I mean there is the Elizabeth detention center for example is a converted Warehouse there aren't really any Windows um people don't get sunlight harsh and inhumane that's how former detainees have described their time at the Elizabeth Detention Center says Katie sastra sastra is interim executive director at first friends of New Jersey in New York a non-profit that helps immigrants whose lives have been impacted by the U.S immigration and enforcement system also known as ice it's important to keep in mind these are civil immigration issues these are not questions of criminality that's something that's handled by our criminal legal system this is when ice is going out and arresting and raiding people over paperwork the Elizabeth Detention Center is the last remaining facility in New Jersey that houses immigration detainees for ice its current contract expires at the end of August and because of a state law Governor Murphy signed in 2021 they'd be banned from EXT ending or renewing that contract now the private company that owns a Detention Center is fighting the law in court core Civic says it stands to lose 18 million dollars because of the law but Amy Torres points out that's just a fraction of the company's profits core Civic which is the largest private prison Corporation in the world is filing lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of New Jersey's detention ban core Civic at the same year that the ice detention bill was passed generated revenues of 1.9 billion dollars according to a court filing the attorney for core Civic argues the state law interferes with federal law that allows for enforcement of federal immigration law within the state of New Jersey saying ab5207 undermines and eliminates a congressionally funded and approved enforcement a federal immigration law by U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement within the state of New Jersey going on to say this court should therefore declare that ab5207 is unconstitutional and or preempt by federal law and enter a preliminary and permanent injunction restraining defendants from enforcing the statute against core Civic this morning immigration Advocates held a vigil in Jersey City for those who have died during their time at the Elizabeth Detention Center the lawsuit with ice it's a you know this is promised that they're not going to do this that they're going to be different by the registration is going to be different than Trump and it's the same thing and Advocates I spoke with here say big corporations like core Civic shouldn't be able to bend and break the rules simply because they can't profit from them for um almost 30 years now and for 30 years people inside have been organizing about the horrible horrible conditions there the inhumane treatment the abuse physical emotional sexual abuse that they face at the hands of the guards and we've all been working with them to try to shut that place down for 30 years we're coming very close I'm not really sure that the core Civic suit is likely to succeed attorney Alan Pollock has been practicing immigration law for 28 years he was a chair of the immigration law section of the New Jersey State Bar Association in 2021 when the bill passed however he's opposed to the law ending ice attention in New Jersey because it would mean people would get sent all over the country away from their families and their attorneys this is a big business um and so you know what happens is the they want to make more money um you know which which comes to another point which people don't talk about a lot is you know you shut down the facilities here the other end result is that other maybe even larger facilities open in these very remote locations so shutting down a facility doesn't change the statute or the law or its enforcement to any great degree Governor Murphy has said he stands by his support of the law to end all ice contracts in the state Advocates say if course Civic wins the lawsuit the company will in turn completely invalidate the law and other counties can contract with ice for NJ Spotlight news I'm Raven Santana [Music]