Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility — CoreCivic ICE Detention Center · NJ · 300 beds · CoreCivic (since 1997)

Overview

The Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility in Elizabeth, NJ is a 300-bed CoreCivic-operated ICE detention center, operational since 1997. It is the older of New Jersey’s two active ICE detention facilities (the other being the 1,000-bed Delaney Hall in Newark).

Key Developments (2025-2026)

State Ban Struck Down (July 2025)

In 2021, Governor Phil Murphy signed a law banning public and private entities from entering contracts for immigration detention. CoreCivic sued. In July 2025, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that the NJ law was unconstitutional because it regulates the federal government. This was a major win for CoreCivic and preserved the Elizabeth facility’s operations.

Contract Extension (March 2026)

ICE is planning a contract extension for the Elizabeth detention center, per NJ Spotlight News reporting in March 2026.

Conditions Complaints

Activists have protested conditions at Elizabeth including:

Undrinkable water
Spoiled food
Overcrowding
Lack of medical care
Limited legal access

In March 2025, activists protested conditions at Elizabeth even as ICE was announcing the new Delaney Hall facility in Newark.

Used as Isolation Destination During Delaney Hall Strike (May 2026)

During the ~300-detainee hunger and labor strike at Delaney Hall (see delaney-hall-newark-nj / newark-nj-delaney-hall-fight), ICE transferred strike leader Martin Soto Hernandez — a Peruvian detained at Delaney Hall since February — to the Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility on/around May 25, 2026. His attorneys say he was placed in isolation and denied phone calls at Elizabeth. Members of Congress who waited 12+ hours to enter Delaney Hall were eventually allowed to see Soto at Elizabeth. This shows Elizabeth functioning as a transfer/isolation node within ICE’s Newark-metro detention complex.

As of early June 2026, the Delaney Hall strike had not resolved and Soto remained at Elizabeth; the relevant new litigation (NJ AG + Newark suits) targets GEO Group at Delaney Hall, not CoreCivic at Elizabeth. No new Elizabeth-specific developments surfaced in the June 5 sweep beyond Elizabeth’s continued role as the isolation destination for the transferred strike leader.

Why This Facility Matters

Elizabeth is the anchor facility in NJ’s detention infrastructure — nearly 30 years of continuous operation. The Third Circuit ruling striking down NJ’s ban on detention contracts has national implications: if states cannot legally block private ICE detention contracts, the sanctuary state strategy has a constitutional ceiling. The contract extension signals that Elizabeth will continue operating alongside the much larger Delaney Hall, giving ICE 1,300+ beds in the Newark/Elizabeth metro area alone.

Detention Pipeline

Elizabeth Contract Detention Facility — CoreCivic ICE Detention Center