The future of housing immigrant detainees in new jersey now sits in the hands of a philadelphia federal appeals judge who today heard arguments in the case of a 2023 ruling that struck down part of a state law barring ice detention in the state now that ruling allowed the federal government to enter into contracts with private prison firms but not public ones like county jails attorneys for the murphy administration today argued against the private group core civic making their case against a backdrop of ramped up deportations under the trump administration senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports [Applause] [Music] [Applause] immigrant advocates marched from philadelphia's independence hall to the federal courthouse to show support for a new jersey law against privatelyun immigration detention centers it's an especially volatile issue since the trump administration's ramped up arrests and deportations they're disappearing immigrants in our communities and we are here to make sure that new jersey does not become a detention state for every person stripped of dignity for every child who misses a parent's touch we say no more no more while protesters rallied on the street lawyers upstairs argued before a third circuit panel of appellet judges their focus the elizabeth detention center run by core civic under a federal contract with ice governor murphy did sign a law barring the feds from hiring private firms to run immigrant detention facilities but a lower court struck that down today new jersey and a long list of good government allies defended the state law they're not saying that the state is trying to regulate the federal government what they're saying is that the state can take actions to protect the state from uh horrific conditions that are that exist in private immigration detention new jersey's attorney said the law would still allow ice to lease build or buy its own lockup explaining there's no way ice couldn't run the elizabeth detention center itself but core civics's attorney bradley simon argued this is an interference with the federal government's right to do their business a major roadblock in their right to do their job with catastrophic effects he said the 300 bed elizabeth facility is new jerseyy's only remaining immigrant detention center citing its proximity to newark and jfk airport simon said closing it would force ice to relocate detainees hundreds of miles away from their families and attorneys but another company geog group is moving to open a thousand bed immigrant detention facility in newark under a new contract it signed with ice so there's a lot at stake for the immigrant community geog group is also trying to open up delaney hall in in new york and we have a petition against that we're fighting that reopening there's rumors that that facility is going to open today make sure to sign the petition make sure to show out on the streets and remember it's not just in new jersey and pennsylvania we're fighting this across the country legal arguments here ran over two hours as the three judge panel pressed attorneys with questions the federal government's lawyer accused new jersey of trying to prohibit ice from working with the contractor to carry out federal operations but the judges wondered whether a clear federal law could better solve the conflict asking "isn't the easiest thing to get congress to draft something that supports your position hook line and sinker?"

i think it was a really robust argument and clearly these are really fundamental questions that they are dealing with relating to what states and what the federal government can do so there's going to be a lot that they're going to have to think through the court reserve decision and it won't just affect new jersey many other states are watching this case closely in the meantime the elizabeth detention center continues to operate in philadelphia i'm Brenda Flanagan.

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