Catholic immigration activists, community members and faith leaders in New Jersey held an overnight vigil in front of Elizabeth Detention Center on May 19 to stop the deportation of Hector García Mendoza, a detainee.
The move to deport García Mendoza came after he and three other plaintiffs sued the privately-run detention center in Elizabeth on May 15, demanding the immediate release of those held in the facility.
The lawsuit was filed by attorneys from the Immigration Defense Project, American Friends Service Committee and the Immigrant Rights Clinic at NYU.
The class action lawsuit alleged that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and CoreCivic, the publicly traded company running the for-profit detention center, violated the rights of the immigrants, as all inmates were at high risk of contacting the coronavirus.