Hudson Dems said they’d end jail deal with ICE. They just renewed it

Hudson County Freeholders voted to renew a contract with ICE to continue holding detainees at the county corrections facility after a 10-hour meeting on Tuesday.

The final vote was 6-3 by the all-Democratic board to approve a 10-year contract — even though freeholders announced a plan in 2018 to their arrangement for the prison in Kearney, a move made after protests by immigrant advocates, according to an NJ.com report.

Hudson County receives $120 per detainee per day, according to NJ.com.

About 100 people, many of those members of those groups spoke at the meeting against the contract, according to NJ.com coverage of the meeting. The Freeholders do not post video of past meetings.

The advocate group Make the Road urged a no vote ahead of the meeting, sayingthe fight to end immigration detention should begin locally.

"With this in mind, we urge Hudson County officials to honor their commitment to not continue the ICE contract," the group wrote on its Facebook page.

County spokesman James Kennelly told NorthJersey.com that ending the agreement would mean a large tax increase. He said the exit plan had been contingent on several factors including an agreement to house Mercer County prisoners, which he said is tied up in court.

Kennelly on Wednesday afternoon did not respond to New Jersey 101.5's request for more information.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ