In a sharp rebuke to New Jersey’s bid to sever ties with private immigrant detention contractors, a federal appeals court has ruled the state cannot block such facilities from operating—handing a victory to CoreCivic, one of the largest for-profit prison operators in the country.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, said New Jersey’s 2021 law banning new immigration detention contracts steps into federal territory and “destroys the federal government’s marketplace” for housing deportable immigrants. Translation: states can’t close the gates on federal immigration enforcement—even if it means corporate jailers keep cashing in.
CoreCivic, which runs around 70 detention centers nationwide, sued New Jersey after its contract for a 300-bed facility near Newark Liberty International Airport was imperiled by the state law. The court sided with the company, declaring the state had gone too far in trying to curtail the federal government’s use of private prisons for immigration detention.
“Just as the federal government cannot control a state, so too a state cannot control the federal government,” wrote Judge Stephanos Bibas, appointed during the Trump administration, who penned the majority opinion. He was joined by Judge Cheryl Ann Krause, an Obama-era appointee. The lone dissent came from Judge Thomas Ambro, a Clinton pick, who argued that New Jersey was within its rights to regulate contracts involving state and local governments.
The ruling echoes a similar 2022 decision that struck down California’s nearly identical law following a challenge from CoreCivic’s rival, GEO Group Inc. Meanwhile, in the Midwest, an Illinois law that only barred the state—but not private firms—from operating such centers managed to survive judicial scrutiny.
While CoreCivic celebrated the win, describing its role in immigration enforcement as “limited but important,” New Jersey officials were less enthusiastic. Attorney General Matthew Platkin warned that handing control of detention facilities to profit-driven corporations comes with serious risks to detainee health and safety. His office is now weighing whether to escalate the fight.
Immigrant advocacy groups, too, expressed outrage. Amy Torres of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice called the decision “judicial fiat,” accusing the court of prioritizing corporate profits over state sovereignty and human dignity. “What New Jersey achieved through the democratic process has now been undone,” she said.
The Biden and Trump administrations—despite their sharply different rhetoric—both supported CoreCivic’s challenge, emphasizing the federal government’s ongoing reliance on private detention as the number of detainees fluctuates.
Behind the legal arguments lies a grim reality: overcrowded and often opaque detention centers, increasingly shielded from oversight. Advocates continue to raise alarm bells over the conditions inside, while courts debate who gets to decide where immigrants are held—and who profits in the process.
