*

Ban interferes with immigration enforcement, court rules

*

Detention centers face scrutiny amid Trump immigration

crackdown

*

Similar California law was also blocked

By Daniel Wiessner

July 22 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday said

New Jersey cannot ban the detention of immigrants awaiting

deportation within its borders, agreeing with private prison

operator CoreCivic ( CXW ) that it "destroys the federal

government's marketplace" for detention facilities crucial to

immigration enforcement.

The 2-1 ruling by the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit

Court of Appeals upholds a judge's decision in favor of

CoreCivic ( CXW ), which operates about 70 U.S. detention centers

nationwide. CoreCivic ( CXW ) sued New Jersey after it passed a law in

2021 that threatened the renewal of a contract to operate a

300-bed facility near Newark Liberty International Airport.

Privately run detention centers have come under renewed

scrutiny as the administration of Republican President Donald

Trump has filled existing centers to capacity amid an aggressive

immigration enforcement campaign.

The administration has restricted members of Congress and

other officials from touring the facilities, where advocates say

conditions can be cramped and inhumane.

The 3rd Circuit on Tuesday said New Jersey's law barring new

contracts to operate immigrant detention centers violates the

U.S. Constitution by interfering with the federal government's

enforcement of immigration laws.

"Just as the federal government cannot control a state, so

too a state cannot control the federal government," Circuit

Judge Stephanos Bibas, a Trump appointee, wrote for the court.

Bibas was joined by Circuit Judge Cheryl Ann Krause, an

appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama. Circuit Judge

Thomas Ambro, who was appointed by Democratic President Bill

Clinton, said in dissent that New Jersey's law only directly

regulates the state, local governments and private companies.

CoreCivic's ( CXW ) challenge has been backed by the U.S. Department

of Justice under Trump and his Democratic predecessor, Joe

Biden. The U.S. government has told the court that it relies

heavily on private immigrant detention, particularly to manage

fluctuations in the number of deportable immigrants.

CoreCivic ( CXW ) spokesman Ryan Gustin in a statement said the

company "has played a limited but important role" in the U.S.

immigration enforcement system for more than 40 years, and was

grateful that the 3rd Circuit upheld the government's discretion

to rely on it.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin, a Democrat, in

a statement said entrusting detention to private companies poses

grave risks to health and safety. He said his office is

considering its next steps.

The New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, an advocacy

group, said the ruling was based on the false premise that

immigrant detention is a core function of the federal

government.

"What New Jersey achieved through the democratic process has

now been undone by judicial fiat to protect the profits of

corporations whose mission is not to serve the United States

Constitution, but to deliver profits for their shareholders,"

Amy Torres, the group's executive director, said in a statement.

A U.S. appeals court in 2022 blocked a similar California

law in a lawsuit by GEO Group Inc ( GEO ), CoreCivic's ( CXW ) top

rival. The same year, a different appeals court upheld an

Illinois law barring the state, but not private companies, from

entering into contracts to operate detention centers.