Derek Sands
Chief of Staff to Sheriff Anthony Cureton
2 Bergen County Plaza
Hackensack, NJ 07601
Dear Sir:
I am concerned for the health and safety of those detainees in the Bergen County Jail who are there under the auspices of ICE. There are three main concerns:
1) Do you have a Release Plan in place to release detainees in a responsible manner,
2) Are the medical needs of these prisoners being looked after properly and
3) Are these inmates being allowed to communicate with their lawyers via video, free of charge.
1) Of utmost urgency is the Release Plan. There have been dire stories of immigrants being released in the evening hours, without anyone to pick them up, and having no known place to go for shelter. Given that some of the people being released are testing positive with the Corona Virus, it should not be the job of volunteers to go pick people up. It should be the County Government’s job to have a plan in place that would provide released inmates who do not have immediate family or close friend in the area with transportation to a secured lodging. Given that there are many vacant hotels/motels at the moment, it would seem that finding safe lodging should not be a problem. Both Hudson County and Essex County have come up with Release Plans. I urge your Office to consult with those Counties and come up with a Plan that will allow immigrant detainees to be released in a humane and safe manner.
2) I worry that not all the prisoners in the Bergen County Jail are getting their proper medications. It’s understood that the tests for the Corona Virus are in short supply, but as more of your inmates and your staff have tested positive, what is being done to isolate these inmates?
Is it prudent for those ICE detainees to be living in dormitories of ten or more people? Furthermore, is the nutrition being offered inmates sufficient to keep immune systems healthy?
3) I worry that by not allowing any visitors into the prisons, those immigrant detainees who need to consult their lawyers are not being given every opportunity to communicate via telephone and SKYPE or other virtual type of communication without the costs being taken out of their Commissary Fund. The CCA, which operates our jails, does not need to profit further off the plight of immigrants.
I hope you will give these concerns your full attention, and know that everyone wishes all your staff and the staff at the Bergen County Jail the best for your health and safety as well as those who have no power to control their own care.
Sincerely,
name____________________________address______________________________________
