- HudCo Corrections Officers Kill Prisoner: After somehow removing handcuffs and leg irons in the back seat of a car, an inmate being transported from the Hudson County jail in Kearny to an East Orange hospital was shot dead yesterday by a corrections officer after he tried to escape.

- West Nile Virus: Mosquitoes testing positive for the potentially fatal West Nile virus have been identified in Jersey City and three other municipalities in Hudson County.

- State Parks: Visits to New Jersey’s state parks, including Liberty State Park in Jersey City, are on the rise.

In Statewide News:

- Fracking: Gov. Christie has conditionally vetoed a permanent ban on the controversial gas drilling process known as fracking, sending a counter-proposal of a one-year ban back to the state legislature.

- Developmental Disabilities: A task force set up by the New Jersey Legislature to facilitate closing residential centers for people with developmental disabilities was put on hold Thursday by Gov. Christie, putting in limbo the movement to shift disabled individuals from institutions to less restrictive, community-based settings.

- McGinley Square: The Jersey City Planning Board has approved a recommendation that the City Council adopt the controversial McGinley Square East Redevelopment Plan. It will now head to the council for a vote.

- McGreevey & HudCo Jail: Former governor Jim McGreevey has found a new niche mentoring inmates at the Hudson County jail.

- Post Offices: Hudson County freeholder Bill O’Dea says he strongly opposes the study aimed at closing the Post Office Branch on West Side Avenue and Union Street in Jersey City.

- JC Girl Meets Workers Who Saved Her Life: A Jersey City mom has plenty of reasons to be thankful. Her precious young daughter nearly died choking on a grape had it not been for Emergency Services paramedics. On Tuesday, she met the people who saved her child’s life.

Today’s Best Bets:

- La Festa Italiana kicks off its five-day run today on 6th Street in Downtown Jersey City. Over in Newport, stars from the New York Red Bulls will be showing kids simple soccer drills at a free clinic (5 pm). Ickett, Vic Della Pello Band and Ghetto Folk are at Groove on Grove, while the documentary The Art of the Steal — originally scheduled for a screening last week but canceled due to rain — is set to be shown at Van Vorst Park (8 pm). And the weekly Tempest Jam Session is at the Lamp Post (8 pm).

In Statewide News:

- NJ Still Paying Pension Costs for Some: New Jersey taxpayers are still funding pension benefits for some well-paid lobbyists and dozens of other non-state employees even after a much-publicized overhaul of the public employee benefits system this summer.

- Anti-Bullying Law: Every school year brings changes and challenges, but few are as formidable as the one now facing administrators: implementing the state’s new anti-bullying law.

- The State’s Economy: The state’s senior economist said Tuesday that despite growing unease over the nation’s shaky economy, he is not revising his positive outlook for New Jersey.

- Substance-Abuse Prevention: New Jersey is overhauling its substance abuse-prevention programs to meet new federal standards and to open contracts to competitive bidding.

- From Ship to Reef: A former Navy destroyer will get a new purpose as an artificial reef off the coast of Cape May.

- JC Firm Lays Off 6% Off Staff: Jersey City-based Knight Capital Group has eliminated about 6 percent of its staff, or approximately 88 people, reducing sales and trading positions in equities and fixed income after trading business slowed.

- Bear Attack or No Bear Attack? Wildlife officials have repudiated the claim that two young campers, including one from Jersey City, were injured by a black bear in Stokes State Forest Wednesday morning.

- Chicken Pox in the Jail: Roughly 60 immigration detainees at the Hudson County jail in Kearny are being kept away from the general population because they share a pod unit with a detainee who has been diagnosed with chicken pox.

- US Marshals Join Homicide Investigation: The U.S. marshals have now joined the hunt for a 19-year-old Jersey City man charged with fatally shooting a man on a Greenville street late on the night of July 11.

- Mom Arrested: Jersey City police arrested an apparently intoxicated woman yesterday after finding her 8-month-old baby alone in a parked car, where he was lying on the floor in the back seat area.

In Statewide News:

- Income Taxes: Raising state taxes on the wealthy New Jerseyans does not cause them to leave the state and results in substantial new revenue, according to a new report released Thursday by Trenton-based liberal think tank New Jersey Policy Perspective.

- Racial Profiling at Newark Airport: An internal TSA report finding that Hispanic passengers were racially profiled at Newark Liberty International Airport has revived concerns that security screeners may have engaged in racial profiling at airports nationwide.

- Labor Endorsements: The AFL-CIO chose not to endorse Senate President Steve Sweeney and other Democrats who supported Gov. Christie’s bill that changes pension and benefits for public workers and weakens collective bargaining. MORE from NJ Spotlight.

- NJ SMART: Starting next school year, NJ SMART will begin reporting detailed data on graduation rates for every high school — including what happened to students who didn’t finish.

- Corzine to D.C.? As speculation about how long Timothy Geithner will remain as U.S. Treasury secretary simmered today, former Gov. Jon Corzine’s name began to bubble up as a possible replacement.

- HudCo Can’t Collect $ from State: The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled that Hudson County can’t collect millions of dollars it claims the state owes for housing prison inmates in county facilities.

- Tunnel Tolls: Gov. Christie says he would consider a plan to raise tolls 25 percent on Port Authority bridges and tunnels before the end of the year, though he said he hadn’t seen any formal plans for one.

- Primary Elections: No big surprises in yesterday’s primary elections, with few incumbents having any challengers and those that did easily winning. At the Democratic committee level, Ward E councilman Steven Fulop’s push to gain committee seats was mildly successful, with Augie Torres estimating that Fulop will get a little more than half his 122 party committee people elected. Full results as of last night can be found here.

- Cops Want Public’s Help Finding Alleged Killer: Police are seeking the public’s assistance locating the last of three people charged in the felony murder of a 66-year-old Jersey City woman originally thought to have died from injuries suffered in a fall.

- Corruption: A former investigator for the Hudson County Board of Elections, Denis Jaslow, admitted yesterday to agreeing to provide a $10,000 bribe payment to Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell in order to influence that official regarding real estate development matters in Secaucus.

Today’s Best Bets:

- Songwriter Colin McGrath plays a free outdoor show at Newport Tower late this morning (11:30 am), while the free outdoor music continues later with a jazzified Groove on Grove, featuring The Broc Hempel Trio, Brendan Kibbee and Jordan Piper (6 pm). Over in Van Vorst Park, the Films in Van Vorst summer series kicks off tonight with a screening of the Coen Brothers’ True Grit (8:30 pm). And the Warehouse hosts the Just Add Sound open mic (8 pm).

In Statewide News:

- Energy Master Plan: Gov. Christie yesterday scaled back the state’s renewable energy goals, releasing a revamped Energy Master Plan that questions New Jersey’s aggressive targets for solar energy, while pushing for more nuclear power and a bigger dependence on natural gas.

- Primary Elections: Two of Trenton’s most powerful Democrats — state Sen. Raymond Lesniak and Assemblyman Joseph Cryan — fought off tough primary challenges tonight as incumbents ruled in the prelude to this fall’s fight for control of the state Legislature.

- Advertising Rights on the Trains: NJ Transit’s intends to sell advertising rights to its stations, terminal facilities and locomotives.

- High School Graduation: New Jersey awards diplomas to 87 percent of its high school students, making the state’s graduation rate the highest in the nation, an annual review released yesterday shows. Meanwhile, the state Department of Education has put a new appeals process in place for students who don’t pass the statewide graduation exams.

- Dwek, Demellier, DeGise & Green: Earl Morgan looks at the case of two county employees caught up in the federal corruption probe, and wonders why they have had such different fates.

- Port Authority Will Help with Local Road Projects: The Port Authority has agreed, at the request of Gov. Christie, to take part in an overhaul of the Pulaski Skyway and other road projects estimated to cost $1.8 billion.

- Hudson County Jail: Superior Court Judge Maurice Gallipoli has ordered Hudson County to award a contract to a Marlton-based firm to provide medical services to the county jail after the judge criticized the bidding process.

- Young Boy Hit on Grand Street: A 14-year-old Jersey City teenager was struck by a driver yesterday morning as he crossed Grand Street. He suffered a broken leg but is in stable condition.

-NJCU Theft Case: A 23-year-old Jersey City man pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to conspiring with a New Jersey City University worker and her husband who have already admitted stealing more than $500,000 from the school’s Student Government Organization.

Today’s Best Bets:

- Freeheld, the documentary about a dying woman’s struggles to transfer her earned pension to her domestic partner, is being screened at NJCU (4 pm). A few hours later, Salmagundi, the showcase of short films & video works by NJCU Media Arts students and alumni, will also be screened at the university (7 pm). And Roland Ramos’ Tempest Jam Session is at the Lamp Post (8 pm).

In Statewide News:

- New Power Plants: Three new power plants were green-lighted for public incentives by the state Board of Public Utilities yesterday in Trenton, fulfilling a law passed this year to build the state’s power-generating capacity. MORE from NJ Spotlight.

- Millionaire’s Tax: State Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff says New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie won’t sign off on any bill increasing the income tax on millionaires if the legislature passes it.

- Foreclosures: A judge has been appointed to oversee foreclosure proceedings in the state of New Jersey to make sure they conform to the law.

- Toll Collector Privatization: Union members shut down yesterday’s monthly meeting of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and staged a 40-minute sit-in, as the authority, which oversees the Turnpike and Garden State Parkway, is looking to privatize collection on the roads this summer.

- Medicaid Changes: Lawmakers who were hoping to come away from yesterday’s budget hearing with a better understanding of Gov. Christie’s plan to overhaul Medicaid may have been disappointed, as few details were disclosed.

- Newark Airport: Newark International Airport is already making moves to prepare for the 2014 Super Bowl.

- Higher Turnpike Charges May Come for Some: The New Jersey Turnpike Authority has introduced administrative rule changes that would charge E-ZPass violators and toll cheats a $50 administrative fee, instead of the $25 that has been in place since 1999, and end off-peak E-ZPass discounts for Turnpike drivers whose E-ZPass accounts are outside New Jersey and who drive a “Class one” passenger vehicle.

- Atlantic City Airport: The Port Authority says it is studying the possibility of taking over Atlantic City International Airport, a move that state Senate President Steve Sweeney said would fit perfectly into New Jersey’s efforts to revitalize the struggling seaside gambling resort.

- JCFD: Jersey City’s new fire chief Darren Rivers talks to the Reporter about the state of the department, and his goals as he takes over. Rivers says the Healy administration has told him the department may have to scale down from 26 active fire companies to 18 in the near future.

- Assembly Race: Denis Wilbeck’s attempt to have Jason O’Donnell thrown off the ballot for Tuesday’s special 31st District Assembly election for failing to file petitions was denied by a Superior Court judge Friday. Meanwhile, pointing to racist fliers that have appeared in connection with the campaign, the Insider says it ended “on a sour racial note.”

- Bedbugs: Bedbugs have been found recently at both the Hudson County Plaza building and the Jersey City Municipal Court.

- New Turf Fields at Washington Park: Hudson County’s plans to fund installation of a synthetic turf field on the Union City side of Washington Park came under fire from a neighborhood group at a Thursday public hearing on open space grants. But Union City and county officials are defending the plans to build a new field, saying that not enough fields exist in the area.

- Van Leer Place: The Jersey City Planning Board has approved the final site plan for Van Leer Place, a development on the former Van Leer chocolate factory grounds near the Hoboken border that promises to use 90 percent less energy than conventional buildings and emit fewer carbon emissions through geothermal and solar energy as well as other green technologies.

- ARC Tunnel: In the aftermath of Gov. Christie officially scrapping the trans-Hudson rail project, NJ Transit officials are scratching their heads over what to do with $47 million worth of property the agency purchased in North Bergen to create a tunnel entrance.

- Jail Medical Contract: The Hudson County freeholders voted Thursday to once again scrap proposals to provide medical services at the county jail and juvenile detention center and instead extend the contract with Verona-based Correctional Health Services through June 30, 2011.

- Chinese Educators in JC: A delegation of 23 educators from the city of Nantong, China learned something in Jersey City last week, and Jersey City educators learned about the Chinese school system, during a visit that resulted in the promise of a new exchange program.

- Heights Shop Owner Sentenced: A 54-year-old Jersey City man who was convicted of sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl at his Heights electronics store has been sentenced to six years in a state hospital.

- Hudson Camera: The longstanding Newark Avenue camera shop has a Notice of Seizure sign on its door, according to Dislocations. It is not clear if the store is closed for good, or just temporarily.

In Statewide News:

- Ballot Question: New Jersey voters will decide Tuesday whether the state Constitution should be amended to bar lawmakers from raiding state workers’ benefit funds. If approved, the question would end the practice of using surpluses in the Unemployment Compensation Fund, the State Disability Benefits Fund and similar funds for other programs or to help balance the state budget. MORE from the Asbury Park Press.

- PSEG: We’ll Leave: Behind the scenes and without any public discussion about it, PSEG has told state officials that the company could take its 1,550 headquarters employees to another state if the Christie administration didn’t approve a request for millions of dollars in credits under a tax credit program set up to lure companies to move here.

- Christie on the Stump: Gov. Christie’s nationwide political tour, which ended Saturday, included 15 states and about 20,000 miles. His political consultant said he’s raised more than $8 million for out-of-state candidates.

- Students & Immigration Status: Acting state Education Commissioner Rochelle Hendricks this month sent guidance to all school superintendents reminding them that public schools are prohibited from requiring students to prove citizenship or legal status when registering for enrollment, and telling them to remind their principals and other administrators as well. But advocates are pressing the state to do more, saying the memo is a start but the state must back it up with enforcement.

- Employee Credit Checks: Legislation that would mostly bar employers from requiring credit checks before hiring someone in New Jersey may soon be considered by the full Assembly.

- Bedbugs in the Jail: The Hudson County Jail has a bedbug problem; depending on who you ask, it is either a “chronic” problem or a minor, sporadic one. Meanwhile, the Reporter has more on the bedbug problem in the schools and the city’s proposed changes to the bedbug law.

- Slow Progress on Bike Lanes: As Bike JC gears up for a fundraiser and ride this coming weekend, the Reporter looks at the city’s efforts to “incorporate bicycling into everyday traffic,” and finds “progress has been slow.”

- Man Killed in Shooting: A 24-year-old Jersey City man was shot in the heart and killed Saturday night after reportedly trying to break up a fight involving a friend who was shot and injured.

- Scrap Metal Fire: A Saturday night three-alarm fire at the Simsmetal East scrap metal facility on East Linden Avenue sent smoke and acrid smells into New York, but it was finally deemed “under control” Sunday afternoon. Simsmetal East was also recently cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for allegedly exposing workers to lead poisoning.

- Schillari Endorsements: Undersheriff Frank Schillari is expected to pick up the endorsement of U.S. Rep. Albio Sires and “a cadre of of other county Democratic Party Hispanics” tomorrow. Schillari is running against incumbent sheriff Juan Perez for the seat.

- Pizzeria Arson, Redux: A Heights pizzeria was doused in gasoline and set ablaze Friday morning in what appears to be an arson fire. The Kennedy Boulevard shop was also the scene of an unsolved arson fire last month.

- Fires: A one-alarm fire broke out Thursday night in a Mallory Avenue garage that fire officials suspect was being used as an illegal apartment. And a fire that has been classified as “suspicious” displaced a family from an apartment at a three-story building on Ocean Avenue near Wegman Parkway on Friday.

Today’s Best Bet:

- Renowned marine biologist and environmentalist Dr. Edith Widder will speak at NJCU, as the university kicks off its 2010-2011 University Lecture series (4 pm).

In Statewide News:

- Christie’s Social Agenda: While much of the talk about Gov. Christie’s tenure in office thus far has been his fiscal conservatism, a number of groups and individuals are beginning to see the governor pursuing a socially conservative agenda.

- Property Tax Appeals: Property tax assessment appeals are producing windfalls for property owners in New Jersey, returning about $80 million this year to those who won their cases in front of county tax boards and tax courts. But the good news for residents is bad news for municipalities and their budgets.

- NJN’s Future: A legislative task force studying the future of NJN says the state shouldn’t keep operating the television and radio stations, but urges Gov. Christie to provide it more funding to allow for a more orderly transition to a new operator. MORE from the Ledger.

- Teacher Givebacks: Six months after Gov. Christie first called for teacher unions to agree to wage freezes and other concessions, debate still roils about what should be done with that money and what the state can and should require. The legislature is close to approving a bill that would demand all money saved by freezes and concessions be returned to the school budget to help restore lost jobs.

- Vapor Intrusion: As industrial waste migrates from some of North Jersey’s more polluted sites to residential areas, vapor intrusion — a toxic stew of gases that rises from groundwater into houses and contaminates indoor air — has become a considerable health concern because it can enter the bloodstream at high concentrations more easily than other toxic pathways, like drinking polluted water.

- Charter Schools: As expected, the state Department of Education received a record number of charter school applications last week.

- Domestic Violence Bills: Legislation that proponents say would increase both the protections and rights of domestic violence victims in New Jersey has advanced in the Assembly.

- NJPAC: The New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark is stepping up its involvement in real estate by putting its founding president and chief executive, Lawrence P. Goldman, at the helm of its newly created NJPAC Development Corporation.

- Three More Charged in NJCU Theft: Three people were charged in federal court in Newark yesterday with helping the former office manager for a student government organization at New Jersey City University cash checks she allegedly stole from the school. And a federal judge has set bail at $100,000 for four of the five Jersey City residents charged in the theft.

- Mini-Golf Raises $80K for Museum: The Golden Door Mini-Golf raised about $80,000 for the ailing Jersey City Museum before it closed down for good this Tuesday.

- More Library Cuts: The Jersey City Free Public Library is scaling back hours and closing most of its branches on Saturdays due to budget cuts. More cuts could be coming, pending possible layoffs and furloughs; a staff reduction plan that has been submitted to the state Civil Service Commission currently awaits approval.

- Jail Food Service Contract Debated: The Hudson County Board of Freeholders last night debated the merits of a food service company that is set to get a nearly $12 million contract at the Hudson County Correctional Center before ultimately awarding the contract. The scrutiny of Aramark comes after the company had problems at Meadowview Psychiatric Hospital, resulting in a $75,000 settlement with the county last year and an agreement that the company would not bid on future contracts.

- Bankruptcy Filing for JC Firm: Jersey City-based ITS Recovery Group, which was established to help Ponzi victims recover money by taking a tax loss, recently filed for bankruptcy

- Fraudster Sentenced: An Oradell man who embezzled $1.1 million from the accounts of eight elderly clients while working for Jersey City-based firm PrimeVest Financial Services has been sentenced to more than 5 years in federal prison.

- Schillari Fundraiser: Many of Hudson County’s heavy political hitters came out last night for a fundraiser for the Hudson County Democratic Organization-backed sheriff’s candidate, Frank Schillari. He is squaring off against incumbent sheriff Juan Perez this fall.

- Habitat’s First JC Home: Habitat for Humanity of Hudson County held a ceremony yesterday to dedicate its first house, at 476 Ocean Ave.

Today’s Best Bets:

- 58 Gallery hosts an opening reception for Jersey City painter Kirk Bray’s new exhibition, In the Moment (7 pm). Made with Love’s Rosh Hashanah communal dinner features live music from jazz guitarist Nobuki Takamen (8 pm). And Kagero plays a free live show at Bar Majestic (8 pm).

In Statewide News:

- ACLU to Ask for Investigation of Newark Cops: The American Civil Liberties Union will ask for a federal investigation of the Newark Police Department today, saying it routinely violates residents’ civil rights through excessive force and false arrests.

- Nuke Plant Cited for Water Leaks: PSEG Nuclear is under attack by critics for decades-long water leaks from concrete containment buildings at the Salem nuclear generating station in South Jersey after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission put their practices under review.

- Christie’s Reform Package: Gov. Christie yesterday unveiled a new ethics-reform package, and much of it targets the Democratic-controlled legislature. He is pushing, among other things, a ban on elected officials holding more than one public job, a requirement that lawmakers disclose conflicts of interests on votes, and a revival of his executive order expanding pay-to-play restrictions to public-worker unions — that order has previously been rejected in court.

- Supreme Court Gets a Temp: Appellate Judge Edwin H. Stern has been named New Jersey’s newest Supreme Court justice, temporarily assigned to fill a vacancy on the state’s highest court by Chief Justice Stuart Rabner.

- Christie on the Trail: Gov. Christie is embarking on a seven-state campaign swing for fellow Republicans that includes a trip to Iowa, the state that kicks off the presidential nominating season.

- NJ’s Extreme Weather: Environmentalists, climatologists and other experts say the extreme weather occurring in the Garden State offers persuasive signals to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

- Chamber Looks for New Leader: The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce says it will launch a nationwide search for its next president and chief executive following the resignation in June of its longtime leader, Joan Verplanck.

- ‘Skewed Sense of Priorities’: Times sports columnist George Vecsey contrasts the lavish new Meadowlands Stadium and the fact that the poorest in New Jersey are facing massive cuts to public services, suggesting not a direct correlation but simply “a skewed sense of priorities in all of us.”

- Medical Contract at Jail Hits Another Snag: Approval of a new five-year medical services contract at the Hudson County jail stalled once again last night at the Hudson County freeholders’ monthly caucus.

- Funding for ARC Tunnel Close: NJ Transit officials say the federal government is close to officially committing $3 billion for a mass transit tunnel linking Manhattan and New Jersey.

- New Walkway Open at LSP: A newly rehabilitated 1000-foot walkway has opened up along the along the south side of Liberty State Park.

- Hurley & the Hall: Longtime St. Anthony’s basketball coach Bob Hurley is set to be inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame this Friday.

- Shopping Spree for Back-to-School: Target teamed up with the Salvation Army yesterday to give 20 children from Jersey City an $80 gift card to spend at the retailer’s 14th Street store during a three-hour shopping spree.

Today’s Best Bets:

- The Feast! Tonight is the first night of the annual Festa Italiana on 6th Street in Downtown Jersey City; the festival runs through Sunday. Tonight’s featured band is The B Street Band, who specialize in Springsteen covers (6 to 11 pm). Over at the Grove Street PATH plaza, the Subway Surfers, WyldLife and Radio Exiles play a free Groove on Grove show (6 pm), and Club H hosts an opening reception for Habib Ayat’s new exhibition, Colors Interaction (6:30 pm).

In Statewide News:

- Christie Will Apply for Federal Education $ After All: Gov. Christie will apply for $268 million in federal education aid passed yesterday by Congress that would provide enough money to save an estimated 3,900 teaching jobs in New Jersey. Earlier in the week, his spokesperson had raised questions about whether or not New Jersey would pursue the funds. MORE from NJ Spotlight.

- Mental Health Law to See Delay: The Christie administration says the state will delay indefinitely implementing a law that would give families a greater say in determining whether their seriously mentally ill loved ones may be ordered to attend outpatient treatment.

- State May Put Unused Bonds to Debt Payments: New Jersey may use $1 billion of unspent general-obligation bond funds to pay down existing debt, under a plan by Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff to reduce state costs.

- Lenders Take Over Xanadu: A group of lenders says it has taken control of the Xanadu retail and entertainment development at the Meadowlands in an effort to steer the stalled project to completion.

- Baykeeper Removes Oyster Beds: The NY/NJ Baykeeper withdrew the last oysters from its experimental reef in the Raritan Bay last night and put them in temporary storage, although the mollusks eventually may be trashed. The DEP in June ordered the Baykeeper project and about a dozen smaller projects removed from polluted coastal waters because it does not have the manpower to patrol them against poachers who would steal and market the tainted oysters.

- Radon in the Water: For more than a decade, state and federal governments have held off in regulating how much radon should be allowed in drinking water. The state Department of Environmental Protection is now analyzing data as it considers its next step.

- North Jersey’s Food Pantries: Food pantries are still seeing increased demand year-over-year, as the recession drags on.

- Pipe-Repairing Technology: A new pipe-repairing technology currently being tested in Somerville could save New Jersey’s water companies millions of dollars.

- The ‘Fork and Screen’ Experience: The new “Fork and Screen” entertainment model, which allows moviegoers to recline in a La-Z-Boy and dine on a three-course menu offering food and even beer, is coming to three AMC Theaters in central New Jersey.

Photo: Sterling Yee/NYU

“Usually they’re pretty alert when they get here, then they get discouraged, then disillusioned. Then they get depressed.”

Greg Sullivan is speaking about the 355 immigration detainees being held in the Hudson County Correctional Center in Kearny, most of whom were living in New York City before they were detained. Inside the facility, they have minimal contact with family and friends, and little to do but wait for their cases to be heard by a judge.

“They’re just sitting in their dorm, not knowing what their status is,” Sullivan says.

Sullivan is the program director of First Friends, a nonprofit that began sending volunteers into the jail to visit detainees in March, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) transferred them from New York City.

Though the jail is less than 10 miles from Manhattan, the detainees held inside are, in every meaningful sense, much farther removed. Making calls from the jail costs a small fortune, and talking to family is a rich indulgence. Visiting hours are limited. And though there are but few miles between the jail and New York City, crossing them is no simple task. Traveling from upper Manhattan requires a subway ride, and then a PATH ride, and then a trip on NJ Transit’s Number 1 bus. If everything goes smoothly, during rush hour, when trains arrive and depart at a brisk pace, the trip takes just under 2 hours.

The result of this distance, both measurable and experienced, is alienation. And though the jail’s administration has been accommodating to their immigrant charges, immigration advocates say no ameliorative measures can make the situation acceptable.

ICE announced in January that New York City’s detainees would be transferred to Hudson County Correctional. At the time, immigrants, their families, and advocates vocally opposed the decision, claiming that the move to New Jersey would make it more difficult for detainees to stay in contact with their families, and lawyers. Even elected officials joined the fray. Sen. Charles Schumer of New York opposed the transfer on the grounds that forcing families to travel nearly two hours on public transportation — the only option for many — would violate the detainees’ right to due process.

Persuasive as the arguments against moving the detainees were, the argument in favor was more so. Housing immigration detainees in Hudson County costs the federal government $111 a day, less than half of the $253 per day it cost to house them in Manhattan. And, though the move was bemoaned, conditions at Varick, the facility they were being transferred from, were not acceptable. Detainees held there had no access to outdoor space, and the medical facilities were seen as inadequate.

And so, the transfer took place in early March, amid dire predictions.

The next month, a report entitled “Locked Up But Not Forgotten” was released. Researched and written by immigration advocates and NYU law students, and published by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), the report examines conditions in six New Jersey detention sites, including Hudson County Correctional. The document paints a dispiriting picture of what life is like for immigration detainees being held in New Jersey.

While research for the report was taking place, detainees in Hudson County could only see their families in no-contact booths. Visits were limited to 30 minutes, between 3 and 7 pm from Monday to Thursday. A person had to arrive by 6:15 pm if they wanted to be allowed inside, meaning that visiting was a virtual impossibility for anyone with a day job.

Detainees were required to list their visitors ahead of time, and the names they supplied were written on cards that could hold no more than five names. The cards, detainees were told, would only be updated once every three months. Phone service at the time was provided by a contractor that charged 89 cents per minute for calls to or from New York, after a $1.75 connection fee had been assessed.

As detailed in the report, detainees at Hudson County Correctional have also filed official complaints about a lack of kosher and halal meals, inadequate medical care, and the pepper spraying of a mentally ill detainee.

But the distance imposed by detention was the report’s primary concern. Detention, the report says, “amounts to near total isolation from the outside world, often for prolonged periods of time.”

That isolation is the result of detention is especially troubling because the justification for detaining immigrants without legal status is different than the justification for holding accused criminals. Immigrants are held to ensure they will abide the dictums of the court system, while people accused of crimes are held for reasons of public safety. Detention is a civil matter, not a criminal penalty. In some of the cases featured in “Locked Up,” it is hard to imagine the reasoning behind the decision to hold them pending trial.

Take Persian Gulf War veteran Warren Joseph, a Trinidadian-American, who was detained for 3 years before a court lifted his removal order and he was released to his home. Or Pauline Ndize, a mother of 3 U.S. citizen children, who had been living in the country for more than 20 years when she was detained in the fall of 2008. She was held for five months before being released.

Because ICE does not have the capacity to hold nearly as many detainees as they take into custody, most are housed in jails and prisons, like Hudson County Correctional. Their detention then feels like a criminal penalty, though technically it is not.

“In effect, immigration detention is punishment — not just for the immigrants in detention, but for their families and communities as well,” the report reads.

The feeling of being punished is only more pronounced the further removed detainees are from their families, their communities, and for those who have them, their lawyers. And being separated from family and community is especially fraught for immigration detainees because they have no constitutionally guaranteed right to legal counsel.

Only 14 percent of the country’s detainees are represented by lawyers as they wind their way through the immigration courts system, a February report from the American Bar Association found. The other 86 percent construct a legal rationale for remaining in the country on their own, or with their families. No simple task, and one made more difficult when phone calls are unaffordable and family can’t visit. Constructing a defense, and remaining hopeful, is hardest, of course, for detainees who have no one to visit them. They, the report says, “easily lose hope of staying in the country — regardless of the strength of their claims to remain in the U.S.”

It is easy to imagine becoming depressed inside Hudson County Correctional. Detainees held there live in rooms with a 65 person capacity, separated from the normal jail population. The available outdoor recreation space is a caged unit attached to a dormitory door. Communal televisions turn off at 9 pm. And by all reports, the food available to detainees and inmates alike is nutritionally sufficient, but terrible.

“It’s a degrading and demoralizing atmosphere,” First Friends’ Sullivan says. “There’s not really that much they can do.”

Almost the moment they arrived from New York, the detainees being held at Hudson County Correctional began agitating to improve their circumstances. They threatened a hunger strike, and sent a petition, signed by more than 180 people, to the American Bar Association. They complained about the phone rates, inadequate health care and mistreatment by guards. In response to their protests, and those of their advocates, conditions inside the jail improved, even before “Locked Up” was released in April.

As a jail, Hudson County Correctional normally functions as a short term facility. The introduction of New York’s detainees necessitated the review of some policies, including visiting and phone service. James Kennelly, Hudson County’s spokesperson, says early complaints by the detainees transferred from Varick came during a period when the jail was in the process of making changes to accommodate the new arrivals.

“We’ve tried to accommodate Varick detainees as best as possible,” he says.

Phone rates dropped to about 30 cents per minute, and they might get lower when a new service contract is negotiated. And contact visits were instituted so detainees can see their loved ones without a Plexiglas barrier separating them. The limit was removed from visitor lists, and weekend visiting hours were added. Computer kiosks that allow detainees to request medical treatment, file complaints, and add the names of visitors to their list are being installed in the detention facility.

“The last thing Hudson County wants to do is fail to live up to our responsibility to treat our detainees humanely,” Kennelly says of the changes.

The story told by immigration advocates is one of a flexible jail administration, forced to contend with a situation that is ideal for no one and dispiriting for the people held in its custody.

Rev. Eugene Squeo, a pastor at St. Patrick’s Assumption in Jersey City, is a member of NJ Advocates for Immigrant Detainees. He has toured the detention facilities at Hudson County Correctional, and attended meetings with jail officials to discuss making changes to jail policy.

“I’ve been pleased by the willingness of officials at the correctional center to work with advocates,” he says.

Like many other advocates, his quarrel is not with Hudson County Correctional — it is with the system of immigration detention itself. The jail is just the low-hanging fruit.

“There should be no massive and arbitrary detention of immigrants,” Squeo says. “But as long as that’s the policy of ICE we want to make sure the conditions are as good as possible under the circumstances.”

Acknowledging they will only be satisfied by a tidal shift in federal policy leaves advocates with few options, and there is a danger in even making some demands. The Varick Detention Facility was the source of bitter complaints because it provided no outdoor space for recreation. But the shift to Hudson, though it allowed access to outdoor space, was not necessarily an improvement for detainees.

“We’re challenged by arguing for closure of facilities,” says Amy Gottlieb, the immigrant rights director of AFSC for the New York metropolitan region.

Pushing for ICE to drop their contract with Hudson County Correctional might be tempting, but no one is making that demand because there is no way to know where detainees would be moved. Chances are, they’d be transferred even farther from home.

John Morton, the head of ICE, has stated publicly that he intends to improve conditions in immigration detention facilities. His expressed desire is to make detention “truly civil.” But Gottlieb is dismissive of his stated goal.

“It’s hard for me to imagine a setting in which it doesn’t feel like a criminal penalty,” she says.

The only way to significantly improve conditions for immigrants awaiting the conclusion of their court proceedings, she argues, is to “find a way to release people.”

When it was announced that Varick was closing, and detainees would be transferred to Hudson County en masse, a group of 16 advocacy organizations suggested another course of action. They volunteered to collectively review the cases against every individual detainee, to determine who among them would be good candidates for electronic monitoring or parole. Those detainees who were unlikely to flee should be released while their applications were pending, they suggested.

ICE rejected the offer out of hand.