Social Justice
Courts begin to hear long-stalled eviction cases
New Jersey’s eviction moratorium for middle-income renters ended Wednesday, with courts starting to hear some of the 83,800-plus residential eviction cases landlords have filed since the start of the pandemic. But there is no tidal wave of people losing their homes and getting booted onto the street. Yet. Instead, the process started with settlement conferences. […]
N.J. prisons get so-so grade on pandemic response — but still the best in the U.S.
A civil rights group that graded prisons nationwide on how they handled the COVID-19 pandemic gave New Jersey a ‘C’ — and blasted the response of correctional facilities around the country as “a shameful failure.” New Jersey’s mediocre grade was the best in a bad showing by all states, which are “failing on even the […]
Reformers eye N.J.’s top court in push for shorter prison terms for juvenile offenders
When Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver recently signed a new law intended to divert juvenile lawbreakers away from prison, a long line of legislators gave speeches to declare there are no disposable children in New Jersey and kids who make mistakes deserve a second chance. But reformers say that’s not true in New Jersey for juveniles […]
New Jersey’s unemployed fret about federal benefits expiring
Life was turning around for NyKia Jackson. After spending months without a stable roof over her head and crashing on a friend’s couch, Jackson rented an apartment in Pemberton perfect for her and her three kids. She had saved up some money from her jobs at Burger King and as a teacher in a preschool. […]
Groups demand protections for transgender inmates in county jails
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and Garden State Equality on Thursday urged officials running jails in New Jersey’s 21 counties to house inmates by their gender identity, not the gender they were assigned at birth. The civil rights groups, which made their plea in a letter to the state’s jail wardens, noted […]
Thousands of Afghan refugees expected at McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst military base
Thousands of refugees fleeing Taliban rule in Afghanistan will begin arriving this week at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, Biden administration officials said in a press briefing Tuesday afternoon. At least 25,000 refugees will be sheltered at the Burlington County military base and three other facilities — Fort Bliss in Texas, Fort Lee in […]
Future ICE detention contracts banned by N.J. law
Private and public New Jersey facilities are barred from signing contracts to imprison federal immigrant detainees under a new law signed by Gov. Phil Murphy Friday. Immigrant organizations, attorneys, and family members have advocated for years to end the lucrative business of immigrant detention in the Garden State. Murphy signed the bill quietly, without the […]
Undocumented residents falling deeper into debt as they await state stimulus
Monica Galindo lost her husband just as the coronavirus pandemic hit New Jersey. After 20 years of marriage, the 44-year-old mother of three became the only breadwinner of her household. That same month, she lost her job cleaning houses as pandemic restrictions took hold, and fell behind on rent and light bills. As an undocumented […]
Hunger crisis may loom as emergency food assistance ends
As pandemic protections like eviction and foreclosure moratoriums near their end, pundits and policymakers have warned about the expected impact on homelessness. But advocates for New Jersey’s poorest residents warn that federal emergency food assistance provided during the pandemic will go away soon too, and a recent bump in food stamp benefits won’t help enough […]
Essex County no longer in ICE business, but activists hold their cheers
For 13 years, the Essex County jail that held undocumented immigrants was at the center of fiery protests and confrontations, both from activists protesting in the streets of Newark and the detainees staging hunger strikes inside. Essex County Correctional Facility finally ceded to activists this year and cut its contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs […]
Growing chorus of immigrant advocates urge Murphy to sign bill banning ICE contracts
It’s been six weeks since immigration advocacy groups began urging Gov. Phil Murphy to sign the bill on his desk banning federal immigration detention center contracts. Now, those calls are mounting — even coming from across the Hudson River — as progressive groups press the Democrat to make New Jersey the fifth state to ban […]
N.J. cops can’t share immigration info with feds, appeals court decides
New Jersey’s Immigrant Trust Directive, an order restricting authorities from sharing immigration information with federal officials, has been upheld by a federal appeals court, ending a legal battle between the state and two counties. The three-judge panel rejected the counties’ arguments that federal law pre-empts New Jersey from implementing the directive, which immigrant advocates say has […]