Hudson County Executive Uses Court and Sheriff’s Officers to Attempt to Silence Critics – Four Protesters Arrested

JERSEY CITY, NJ — Yesterday, following five consecutive nights of vigils, flyer distribution, and community engagement regarding Hudson County’s decision to continue the county’s contract to jail people for ICE, in the Jersey City Heights neighborhood where Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise resides, DeGise and three other Hudson County Freeholders obtained a temporary restraining order against five named defendants, all associated with the Abolish ICE NY/NJ Coalition, and up to up to 20 “John Does and Janes Roes”. The named defendants and other “fictitious persons” were effectively banned from a loosely defined area around the homes of Tom DeGise as well as the homes of Anthony Vainieri, Caridad Rodrigues, Albert Cifelli and Anthony Romano.

When dozens of citizens showed up in front of  402 New York avenue at approximately 9 pm, they were met by Sheriff’s officers who attempted to, seemingly randomly, serve a document, which they represented was a copy of the temporary restraining order, on anyone in the crowd. The protestors questioned the Sheriff’s officers about the enforceability of the order and whether or not their names were included in the document. The protestors then placed “Black Lives Matter”, “End Racism Now” and other protest signs flat on the sidewalk and stood to either side facing each other in a silent protest to recognize the 11 deaths associated with the jail since 2017. Five of those individuals were staff who passed away this year after contracting COVID-19.

Just before 10 pm the protest began to break up and the Sheriff’s officers and protestors again engaged in a back and forth about the document at which point the officers began making arrests. At least one of the arrests was made of a protester who was clearly attempting to follow the Sheriff’s officer’s orders to disperse, but was instead thrown against a car and handcuffed.

All four arrested were processed and released by approximately 3:00 am this morning.

“When the brutality of the government’s enforcement agencies is unleashed in the name of security, it is inevitable that it will also be used to tamp down dissent,” said Union City resident and attorney Hector Oseguera, who attended the vigil for the first time last night and was arrested, despite not appearing named in the restraining order.

“The Hudson County Sheriff has shown itself for what it is- the private goon squad of the county executive. Last night, we witnessed, with much less intensity and on a tiny fraction of a scale, the arbitrary enforcement of the so-called “rule of law” and the brutality that has been inflicted against the community for decades,”  said Whitney Strub, co-point of the Immigrant Justice Working Group of the North New Jersey Democratic Socialists of America (NNJ DSA), who was present at the action.

“The County Executive and Freeholder’s refusal to hear their constituents prior to renewal, despite regular engagement over the last two years, has meant that daily vigil was the public’s only option left,” said Amy Torres, member of Hudson County Progressive Alliance. “Law enforcement officers wielding legal documents and misrepresenting their authority is something that is all too familiar in Black, Brown, and immigrant communities. Too many Hudson residents whose families fled repressive regimes in countries abroad will find a familiar and haunting echo in the County Executive’s decision to use local media and the courts against the very public who have been begging through every other public channel to be heard.”

“People in New Jersey are literally starving themselves to get out of immigration detention and be reunited with their families and Tom DeGise and the other Hudson County Freeholders can’t bear the sight of a handful of people telling them how morally bankrupt they are. He keeps telling reporters how tough he is, but his character is as weak as it gets,” said Jake Ephros, Secretary of the NNJ DSA.

###

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, though Hudson’s makes up less than 4% of the total county budget.  These contracts and their associated revenue are often celebrated by the elected Democrats who sign them. Hudson County jail has experienced suicides, wrongful deaths and permanent injury, hunger strikes and  COVID-19 infection and staff deaths. The Bergen County Jail is currently the scene of an active hunger strike by people in detention protesting for their freedom. 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.