Abolish ICE NY/NJ Coalition Demand that Governor Murphy and AG Grewal Intervene as Bergen County Hunger Strike Enters 19th Day

HACKENSACK, NJ — Today from 1-4 p.m. community members and activists will gather outside the Bergen County Jail in solidarity with the nine men who began a hunger strike on November 13th, to demand their release. This is the 6th consecutive day of protests but the 19th day of the hunger strike. The Abolish ICE NY/NJ Coalition along with on the ground organizers of the daily protests are now calling on Governor Murphy and Attorney General Grewal to intervene on behalf of the people on hunger strike, the people in ICE detention, and everyone at the facility. “The place is not for humans to live there,” said Marcial Morales Garcia, one of the original hunger strikers, “and every officer abuses their power, and the medical system is a total disaster.” Bergen County is one of four ICE detention facilities in New Jersey, the others being Essex and Hudson County Jails as well as the Elizabeth Detention Center. Abolish ICE NY/NJ sent a platform to Governor Murphy at the beginning of November that includes a plan to eliminate these types of intergovernmental service agreements and to prevent transfers from prisons and jails to ICE custody. The coalition has yet to receive a response from his office.

Attorney General Grewal has the power to investigate prisons and jails. There are serious allegations of inhumane conditions inside Bergen County Jail, including a rat infestation that affect the whole jail.

Wilson Peña Lojo, one of the nine hunger strikers, reports, like many others inside, that he was denied medical care for his host of medical problems. Peña Lojo had already tested positive for and suffered from COVID-19 prior to being transferred to the Bergen County Jail and now is reporting a kidney ailment. The effects of the hunger strike are starting to take a significant toll on his body. A few days ago he was transported to the hospital after his blood pressure dropped to a dangerously low level, but was soon brought back to ICE custody. Peña Lojo also reports that the heat in the jail has been shut off and confirmed that the jail administration has blocked the windows, preventing them from seeing outside. He has already spent 22 months in Essex County Jail and now 2 months at Bergen County where he awaits the determination on his appeal to the third circuit.

Morales Garcia was released earlier this month and is desperate to help those left inside, one of whom is a blood relative. He explained why he went on hunger strike and how he was treated while inside:

“I have three kids. They mean everything for me. I took the decision to fight my case because I want to see them grow up, but when they took me to Bergen County Jail my hope of life [went] away… I am diabetic and I have a major depression disorder. I never got to see a doctor. I just spoke with the nurse and they were guessing what kind of medication they can use on me… We were in quarantine for 21 days only allowed to go to the day room to make phone calls one hour a day. While we were quarantine, I made a call to my country. My mother was crying and I asked her what happened. She said your brother got killed . I [felt] so depressed and I ask the officer can you allow me more time so I can call my family because my brother just got killed. [I asked for] a little more time before I get locked in to Call my family..  He said ‘OK just come with me to medical so you can have some privacy’… He took me to medical and put me [in] solitary room. After half an hour he came back and ask me to take my clothes off… He said the doctor just make you suicide level one. I said to him ‘I haven’t see the doctor how he can put me on suicide watch without asking me Any question?’… I slept there on the floor without blankets or sheets, that was the help I received from them.”

This is the second hunger strike in Bergen County Jail in one month where there are now about 200 people incarcerated pursuant to an intergovernmental service agreement between ICE and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office. Daily protests outside the jail in solidarity with those inside began the Friday after Thanksgiving and are planned to continue until at least this Friday.

The Abolish ICE NY/NJ Coalition is in solidarity with all people who are incarcerated in the Bergen County Jail. “The coalition specifically condemns ICE and the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office for denying people in detention appropriate and timely medical care and for retaliating against the people on hunger strike. Further we do not believe that they should have ever entered into this contract. They clearly do not see the people they are incarcerating for ICE or for criminal charges as human beings. We call on them to work with attorneys and advocates for a responsible end to the ICE contract and to work toward decarceration with criminal justice advocates,” said Gaby Puche, an organizer with Silk City Socialists and a member of the Abolish ICE NY/NJ Coalition.

About Immigration Detention in New Jersey- New Jersey has four immigration detention facilities. Three are pursuant to intergovernmental service agreements between Bergen, Essex, and Hudson Counties and ICE. Each of the counties is paid a “bed rate” of between $110 and $120/day. The counties use the contracts, which date back as far as 25 years, to generate tens of millions of dollars in profit yearly.  The contracts and their associated revenue are often celebrated by the elected Democrats who sign them. The fourth facility is the Elizabeth Detention Center, which is run by the private for-profit company CoreCivic, but the building is owned by a local company, The Elberon Development Group. The principals of Elberon, Anne Evans Estabrook and Dave Gibbons, contribute to the campaigns of local politicians and sit on the boards of local institutions including Kean University, NJPAC, and RWJBarnabas.

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