Abuse at Bergen County Jail
Complaint: Medical Neglect, Use of Force, Verbal Abuse, and Retaliation, Religious Discrimination, COVID-19 Negligence, of Individuals Detained at Bergen County Jail
Filed: July 13, 2021
In the summer of 2021, 15 immigrants in ICE custody at the Bergen County Jail (BCJ) in Bergen County, New Jersey, lodged a multi-individual complaint with the Department for Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL), calling for an investigation into ongoing abuses including medical neglect, violent retaliation, COVID-19 negligence, religious discrimination, sexual assault and overall intolerable conditions.
Background on Complaint:
Filed by Freedom for Immigrants, the Center for Constitutional Rights and UnLocal Inc., the complaint includes direct testimony of incidents of abuse in April and May of 2021. The complaint describes a pattern and practice of deplorable standards of care that fail to meet even ICE’s own protocols, a culture of fear where immigrants are routinely retaliated against for speaking out and blatant racial and religious discrimination in decisions related to medical care and release from detention. Moreover, officials at BCJ violated federal court orders by denying release to individuals who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.
Those at BCJ who speak out against the conditions and ICE’s continued denial of release are met with violent retaliation and coercion by the agency, often involving the use of pepper spray. “Every time you make a complaint against an ICE official they retaliate,” said one individual in the complaint, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution. “Every time we raise our voices there are consequences,” continued the individual.
In one incident on May 7, 2021, immigrants across the entire ICE prison were pepper-sprayed and ICE subjected seven people to solitary confinement, where they had no access to a shower for 30 days. In another instance, corroborated by several individuals, a young man was beaten by officers and dragged down the steps after seeking to peacefully intervene as an officer placed his knee on the back of the neck of a 50-year-old Black man.
The complaint details several instances of egregious and life-threatening medical negligence, including discrimination from ICE medical personnel.
“The doctor once told me that ‘If you don't like the way that I'm talking to you, go back to your country.’”
— Romeo Konneh, one of the individuals named in the complaint.