the Biden Administration today is calling the upcoming closure of New Jersey's last immigration Detention Facility catastrophic and they're joining a lawsuit asking a judge to block the New Jersey law that will end immigrant detention in the state once the Elizabeth detention Center's contract with ice expires in August it's expected to close the Biden Administration argues that would have serious impacts on public safety and on the government's ability to enforce Federal immigration laws but the Elizabeth Detention Center has long been criticized for its treatment of immigrants and this latest development is drawing Anger from Advocates and former detainees who want to see it close for Good Ted Goldberg reports luggage then they put me in Chains I went to bed by 3 AM by 6 a.m they're waking me up it's uh um it's time to wake up for breakfast and I was like I need to sleep Asylum Seekers at Elizabeth Detention Center tell us they were traumatized by their time there Edwin Coy came from Sierra Leone where he worked as a journalist after they're reporting about you know the things the government and supporters of the government that was doing my father was assassinated and Edafe Okporo used to live in Nigeria in my home country uh homosexuality is frowned upon I was woken up by a mob they were beating on my door like his game they dragged me out to beating me on the street and I blacked out these two men came to America for a better life while their Asylum cases played out in court they stayed at the Elizabeth Detention Center where they say life was like living in a high security prison for me to place phone calls I had to work in the kitchen I would work for four hours and they pay me a dollar a day no windows you can't see the sky they give you a bad number and they call you an a number so it's like you're an alien they try to remind you like this place is not meant for you I forgot my name an adult I forgot my name because nobody calls you by your name after they were granted Asylum Coy applied for a green card while oporo received his green card and is now working to become an American citizen they've been out of the detention center for a few years but they're still scarred by their experiences there I've enjoyed that freedom but the first few days of coming year have traumatized me to date is haunting me this facility is the last immigrant Detention Center in New Jersey and it could close later this summer a law Governor Murphy signed two years ago prevents public jails and private companies from starting or renewing contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement core Civic is the company that owns this facility and their lease is up at the end of August they're suing to block that law from taking effect and shutting down the Detention Center which currently houses 217 detainees Elizabeth Detention Center is emblematic of all of the problems that are wrong with our national immigration detention system these windows are completely bricked up this is something to me feels like it's out of a dystopian novel core Civics lawsuit has support from the Biden Administration in a court filing the Department of Justice argues the privately owned and operated Elizabeth facility is Mission critical saying its closure would not only seriously impair Isis immigration operations but would also negatively impact detainees and the public citing the possible release of certain dangerous non-citizens and costly out-of-state relocation and transportation of detainees ice officials argue the lack of detention resources in New Jersey has already had a severe impact on National Security Public Safety and border security operations in a critical area of the nation and if the Elizabeth facility is forced to close those severe impacts will become catastrophic ice also says they plan on re-upping their lease and violating state law it's bitterly disappointing and it's shameful but it should come as no surprise because Biden has been so inconsistent on his immigration promises a spokesperson for core Civic said they wouldn't comment on the active legal case but added we value our long-standing partnership with our government partner we take our responsibility to care for the individuals in our facilities very seriously and work hard to ensure that we meet the stringent standards set by our government partners and ourselves in Elizabeth I'm Ted Goldberg NJ Spotlight news [Music]