Image by Getty

(JTA) — Thirty-six activists from a Jewish group arrested during a demonstration in front of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey accepted a plea deal that keeps them out of prison.

The protesters from the Never Again Action organization were arrested on June 30 after blocking the access road to the detention center and refusing to move, according to NJ.com. The group also did not have a permit to gather at the site. Hundreds of Jews, mostly young people, attended the protest.

All 36 activists accepted a plea deal Monday in which they were charged with disturbing the peace and ordered to pay $133 in fines.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“Today, we face criminal charges for blocking the entrance to the Elizabeth Detention Facility which is operated by CoreCivic, a private prison company. But we know the real crimes are the ones being committed every day inside these ICE facilities. The detention of our neighbors in abusive, unlivable facilities like this one should upset all of us. As members of the Jewish community, we’ve seen this system of dehumanization before, and know that it extends well beyond the boundaries of any building,” the protesters said in a statement issued after the hearing.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount