ELIZABETH, NJ – Yesterday, Congressman Menendez toured the Elizabeth Detention Center (EDC) and met with migrants as well as officials from United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). After his visit, Congressman Menendez proposed the expanded usage of community-based alternatives to detention.
“Today’s visit to the Elizabeth Detention Center provided an important opportunity to meet with migrants and inspect the facility first-hand,” said Congressman Menendez. “I continue to believe that this facility must be closed. Instead of keeping migrants detained and away from their families and communities, I strongly support a shift to community-based alternatives to detention. Doing so would allow migrants to stay with family while their cases are processed, eliminate the need for the detention of the overwhelming number of individuals who are currently being held at EDC, and end the use of a facility owned and operated by a for-profit entity. I urge the Biden Administration to pursue this viable alternative so we can finally close the last remaining private detention center in the state, which continues to stand as a contradiction to the values of our diverse and welcoming district."
Congressman Menendez originally called for the closure of this facility in July 2023, joined Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12) in writing to United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas urging him to terminate efforts to continue contracting with EDC in September 2023, and held discussions with senior DHS officials to advocate for the closure of the facility in December 2023.
Congressman Menendez is a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, which oversees the operations of DHS and ICE.
ATDs are federal programs which have been shown to produce high rates of compliance with court procedures while allowing migrants to remain in their communities as they move through legal processes. Over 350,000 migrants have successfully participated in ATDs through July of 2022.
