Advocates are taking to the streets demanding the shutdown of the Elizabeth detention center now the only remaining jail in the state to house and profit from detaining immigrants it was scheduled to close in less than 24 hours but on Tuesday a federal judge ordered it to remain open halting the Murphy administration's efforts to formally end immigration detention in New Jersey and Paving the way for ice that's Immigration and Customs Enforcement to renew its contract with the prison's private operator it's been a target of study protests over recent years and today activists along with those who have spent time detained inside the prisons walls spoke out demanding action Ted Goldberg reports a familiar chant started outside a federal building in Newark today as immigration activists rallied to protest the Elizabeth Detention Center which will remain open after a ruling from a federal judge it wasn't very surprising decision but it really shows us that they actually putting profits before the heart and soul of who humans are we see that as not the will of the people here today of hundreds of groups of residents of Newark and Elizabeth the Elizabeth Detention Center was set to close this week under a New Jersey law passed two years ago which prohibits Immigration and Customs Enforcement from starting or renewing contracts with private detention centers federal judge Robert Kirsch called New Jersey's law unconstitutional because it overrode federal law adding that the state law quote is a dagger aimed at the heart of the federal government's immigration enforcement Mission and operations Kirsch also said if neighboring states passed a comparable law it would result in nothing short of chaos it's a blow to what we have been doing for the past two years in trying to shut down this facility we cannot stand up a dagger Into the Heart of Ice it has no heart it is not a person the people in Isis cages they can bleed they can shed tears that's who we should be concerned about the federal government maintains that it has an interest in detaining people for immigration purposes that's why we see this and not to mention that there is uh immense profit interest in the Detention of non-citizens for these private companies the Biden Administration joined the company core Civic in arguing that New Jersey's law went against federal laws Advocates have criticized the Biden Administration for arguing on behalf of a private Detention Facility and argue that Biden is breaking his campaign promises when he came into office he held true to some of that but did not extend the prohibition on unprivate detention facilities to immigration purposes he's doing politics when people here are are doing organizing for our communities for our lives for the lives of our brother brothers and sisters and our children and they should not exist moving forward that's what we're here ready to fight with all the energy that we have we got to make sure that Biden knows that he picked a fight in the wrong State and that we are not backing down representative Bonnie Watson Coleman and others from the state's Congressional Delegation recently sent a letter to attorney general Merrick Garland urging the Department of Justice to drop its support for core civic's lawsuit in response to this ruling the congresswoman sent a statement which reads in part its reference to the difficulty of ice to find a replacement facility in the given time ignores the fact that ab5207 was passed more than two years ago the horrible conditions at the Elizabeth Detention Center further erode the trust that people have in a fair justice system it will not phase us we will continue to fight and we will be every every time we can we will be at the Elizabeth Detention Center we will challenge the renewal of the leases and just keep on fighting to shut down this facility the State Attorney General's office says it will appeal the ruling and continue trying to close down the Elizabeth Detention Center in Newark I'm Ted Goldberg NJ Spotlight news [Music]