NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 15: A delivery person rides an electric bicycle through the streets of Manhattan on November 15, 2022 in New York City. Electric bicycles, which have surged in popularity with both delivery workers and commuters, run on lithium-ion batteries which can be combustible when charging, especially cheaper models. Some New York City landlords are banning electric bicycles from their buildings following a series of fires, one in Manhattan this month which sent 43 people to the hospital after a faulty bike battery left charging by a tenant caught fire. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

It’s not every day that you get to decide the condom a couple will be using, but if you are a delivery worker, it can happen (for the curious, I chose Trojan Her Pleasure since the one they requested was out of stock).

If you work making deliveries for, say, Uber Eats, DoorDash, or Grubhub, you can end up making medicine runs or dropping off food for a disabled grandma, which makes our work seem meaningful and appreciated.

But the delivery could go to the top floor of a high-rise where elevators are completely automated, and you need a concierge to take you to the exact floor. The apps don’t consider the extra time it takes to do all of this, so we are perpetually “late” since people in luxury high-rises tend to be the ones ordering food (or one latte).

The problem with letting an app run the show is that they often get it wrong. Recently, I was on the phone at 9:30 p.m. with the app’s help desk, located outside of the United States, where people get paid less, to explain that I couldn’t follow the app’s instructions since bicycling from Jersey City to Secaucus in 12 minutes on the highway is neither possible nor advisable. I returned the orders to two different restaurants, the customers were refunded, and I got two strikes against me for two incomplete deliveries and zero payment for 45 minutes of work.

While we are considered independent contractors who pick our own times to work, we are completely dependent on the app’s demands, and a few strikes against you — even if the app/restaurant/customer was at fault — can mean having your account deactivated, no questions asked. It’s not just a new form of delivery but a new form of exploitation.

While getting companies to pay us minimum wage is a struggle, and not all customers see it fit to tip, the biggest threat to our income may be coming from lawmakers in Trenton. Bill S-2292 seeks to equate low-speed e-bikes — those that max out at 20 miles per hour — with cars by requiring users to register and insure them.

In cities, e-bike delivery is more time-efficient. We face fewer traffic jams and don’t need to double park. And in general, e-bikes are more sustainable. Buying or renting an e-bike is more feasible than getting a car to do delivery work, although the expense cannot be underestimated since each rider is an independent contractor and everything up to the price of a pizza bag falls on us, not on the delivery app. Adding the extra cost of registration and insurance might put many of us out of business and would prohibit many from starting up.

Immigrant e-bike delivery riders have the additional issue of having paperwork that doesn’t always align with what would be required by the state. Getting a license or even a state ID is hard for non-citizens. New Jersey’s “six points of ID” is no joke if your paperwork is not just from out of state but from out of the country, usually in a different language.  

E-bike delivery ordinances in Jersey City and Hoboken, which would require regulations for e-bike workers not imposed on other e-bike riders, have united delivery workers in New Jersey and New York City, and we are both grateful for the support we are getting from the Workers Justice Project.

New Jersey should make it easier to ride an e-bike over a car or scooter, not harder. Our colleagues in the newly established group Los Deliveristas Unidos NJ, associated with the well-known Los Deliveristas Unidos in New York City, stand behind us when we say that a law to register low-speed e-bikes would be a financial hardship for us.

Customers depend more and more on delivery apps to get their food and household items delivered to their doorstep, and that means the app companies need more e-bikes to make more money. Instead of New Jersey lawmakers making individual delivery workers responsible for registering and licensing their e-bikes, app companies should be required to contribute to providing safe e-bikes and better infrastructure to handle their use of the streets.

This May Day, know that delivery workers are doing their part: they are organizing for better workplace safety, which means safer streets for all. The app companies should do their part, too!

Antonio Solis and Karin Vanoppen work making deliveries for app-based companies in Hudson County and NYC.

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By Jill Duerr Berrick, Lenna Nepomnyaschy, and Cassandra Simmel

When children are placed in foster care, their parents have a lot to do. They have a long list of tasks to accomplish to make sure they can bring their kids home safely — the primary goal of the foster care system in New Jersey and other states. But some laws push parents to make terrible choices. New Jersey has a chance to fix that problem.

When children are removed from their homes and placed in foster care, current law requires parents to pay for their child’s foster care stay. That may seem reasonable on the face of it, but the law is actually illogical and counter-productive.

Why illogical? Typically, parents whose children are separated to foster care are some of the poorest parents in America. One study found that almost half of parents had zero income in the year prior to their child’s placement into care.  Another study found that about one-third of parents had an annual income below $10,000. Asking parents to pay $100 or $200 per month toward the cost of their child’s foster care placement may seem reasonable, but it’s hardly reasonable if parents don’t have the income to pay. Often, parents go into debt to the government, and then taxpayers spend enormous sums tracking parents and pursuing enforcement. Studies in five states have shown that the costs of enforcement outweigh the benefits by at least 3:1.

Why counter-productive? Parents need to offer evidence that they can safely parent their children. Some may need to attend mental health counseling, others may need domestic violence support, or perhaps some require treatment for substance use challenges. In addition to meeting these requirements, parents also must maintain their home, their job, and their income so that they’re ready for their child’s return.

But we ask parents to make impossible choices: Pay the rent or pay the government. Pay the electric bill or pay the government.  Rigorous studies show that when parents pay these fees, their meager finances are turned upside down and the whole family suffers. Kids remain in foster care over six months longer than they need to, and in 1 in 5 cases, children never go home.

It gets worse. Kids’ stay in foster care in New Jersey is usually about 17.3 months, on average, but the financial hole that creates for parents can last a lifetime. Parents who are unable to pay go into debt to the state – a debt that often follows parents for years or even decades. Parents in arrears can lose access to credit, have their driver’s license or business license suspended, have their passport taken away, have their wages garnished, and have their tax refunds and unemployment benefits intercepted. These efforts to extract money from parents only serve to deepen family poverty, and research evidence shows that family poverty is associated with multiple challenges, including increasing the risk of child maltreatment.

New Jersey cares for about 3,200 children in foster care, and it collects almost $2 million annually from their very low-income parents. On this issue, New Jersey is one of the most aggressive states in the country.

Recently proposed legislation in the New Jersey Senate and Assembly (S2331 and A3517) would reverse this practice and would bring New Jersey into conformance with federal guidance. Parents whose children are in foster care need to focus on what matters most: The safety of their children. Making parents pay for their child’s stay in foster care is a bad idea that is ripe for reform.

Jill Duerr Berrick is a distinguished professor of social welfare at U.C. Berkeley. Lenna Nepomnyaschy and Cassandra Simmel are associate professors of social work at Rutgers University.

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LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS - MARCH 5: A voter casts their ballot on Super Tuesday at City Center on March 5, 2024 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Fifteen states and one U.S. territory hold their primary elections on Super Tuesday, awarding more delegates than any other day in the presidential nominating calendar. (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images)

Hundreds of delegates were at stake in the Super Tuesday presidential primaries bonanza that included 15 states and the U.S. territory of American Samoa. While former President Donald Trump netted the lion’s share of delegates, Republican challenger Nikki Haley pulled her second upset in recent days in Vermont. President Joe Biden extended his winning streak, including in Iowa which announced the results of Democrats’ first mail-in presidential preference contest.

In Colorado and Maine the former president easily won the nomination and delegates. Both states had disqualified Trump from their Republican primaries because of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection only to be overruled Monday by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Biden and Trump also came out on top in North Carolina, but the most watched races in the state were the gubernatorial primaries. Voters winnowed a vast field of candidates vying to become the state’s next governor in what is expected to be one of the most heated and expensive gubernatorial races in the nation. Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a MAGA Republican who has the backing of Trump, will face off against Attorney General Josh Stein, who led all candidates in polling and fundraising during the primary period.

Here’s a look at other states holding Super Tuesday primaries:

Alabama: The Democratic primary in the newly drawn 2nd Congressional District yielded a runoff between former Department of Justice official Shomari Figures and Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels. The GOP primary for the district looked to be heading in the same direction as the night wore on. Redistricting also altered the 1st Congressional District, forcing two Republican incumbents to face-off — U.S. Rep. Barry Moore of Enterprise beat U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl of Mobile.

On the state Supreme Court, Associate Justice Sarah Stewart beat former state Sen. Bryan Taylor in the Republican primary for the chief justice seat. In November, she will face Judge Greg Griffin, a Democrat who ran unopposed. This race pulled fresh interest after the mid-February embryo decision that jeopardized in vitro fertilization in the state.

Alaska: Republicans are conducting a caucus to pick a presidential nominee, with 29 delegates at stake. Other races will be decided in a primary election in August. Results were expected sometime after midnight East Coast time.

American Samoa: The U.S. territory of American Samoa continued its tradition of quirky primary results, handing the majority of votes to little-known Baltimore businessman Jason Palmer, the Associated Press reports. Palmer, who reportedly campaigned personally in the remote Pacific island territory, got 51 of the 91 votes cast, with Biden getting the rest. The territory, which handed former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg his only win in 2020, will send six delegates to the Democratic convention this summer, but residents do not have a vote in the presidential election in November.

Arkansas: Democratic and Republican presidential primaries went to Biden and Trump as expected. In the 3rd Congressional District, Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Womack, who’s served in the House since 2011, pulled out a win over Arkansas Sen. Clint Penzo. Plus, two state Supreme Court seats, including chief justice were up for grabs.

California: California Democrats strongly backed Biden, with 90.5% in early returns, leading the Associated Press to call the race for him. Republicans backed Trump with 74.7% in early returns, the AP reports.

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff was the top vote getter in two U.S. Senate elections, the Associated Press reports. In the race to fill the unexpired term of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, he led Republican former baseball player Steve Garvey 34.0% to 31.4%  in early returns. In the race for the full six-year term that begins in January 2025, he led Garvey 36.8% to 29.7%. Under the state’s open primary system, the two top vote getters will advance to a runoff in November, with the other candidates eliminated, including Democratic Reps. Katie Porter and Barbara Lee.

Also on the primary ballot are members of the House, state legislative contests, county supervisor candidates, and a $6.38 billion bond measure to boost mental and behavioral health treatment and to combat homelessness. Early returns suggest that the measure was headed for a narrow victory, 51.3-48.7%, according to the secretary of state’s office.

Colorado: Trump cruised to an easy victory in the Republican presidential primary after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Monday overturned a decision from state justices that he was disqualified for engaging in insurrection during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Democrats chose Biden, who was declared the victor shortly after polls closed. Their primary ballots also included a “noncommitted delegate,” who would not be obligated to support any particular candidate at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August. The option was launched last-minute as an objection to Biden’s role in the war in Gaza. But “noncommitted” was pulling only 7% in early returns and would need at least 15% to be awarded delegates.

Maine: Biden and Trump easily win. But whether votes for Trump would be counted was in doubt until Monday. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows withdrew her decision disqualifying the former president after the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Colorado case.

Massachusetts: AP called the primaries for Trump and Biden.

Minnesota: Minnesota voters only had presidential candidates on their primary ballot. Trump and Biden took all the state’s delegates, according to the AP. Minnesota’s own U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips was still on the Democrats’ ballot, but he wasn’t posing much of a threat to the president. Much like Michigan in late February, there was a push here for Democrats (known as the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party in Minnesota) to mark “uncommitted” on their ballots to tell Biden he should stop backing Israel’s ongoing onslaught against Gaza.

North Carolina: AP called the races for Biden and Trump shortly after the polls closed. Voters also were casting ballots for council of state, legislative and congressional races. New gerrymandered maps mean the state most likely will send 10 Republicans to the U.S. House, up from seven.

Oklahoma: Biden and Trump coasted to victory in Oklahoma, where the presidential primaries were the only statewide races on the ballot. The AP called the major party races shortly after polls closed.

Tennessee: Trump easily swept the Republican primary with around 78% of the vote, despite heavy spending and recent campaigning in the state in support of Haley. Biden faced no opponent in Tennessee’s Democratic primary, but he got only 92% of the vote, with everyone else choosing “uncommitted.”

Texas: As expected, Biden and Trump won their primaries in Texas, sweeping the second-biggest prize of delegates into their tallies. But the more interesting races in America’s largest red state were down ballot. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz handily won the Republican primary, but Democrats picked him as a seat to flip in their nationwide press to keep the Senate majority. U.S. Sen. Colin Allred, from Dallas, won the Democratic primary, according to the AP.

Utah: Biden easily defeated four rivals in Utah’s primary election, the AP reports. With more than half the votes counted, Biden had 88% of the vote. The state has 34 total delegates to the Democratic National Convention, allotted by the percentage of the vote received by each candidate.Republicans and two minor parties held caucuses. Republicans also conducted a “presidential preference poll,” simultaneously with the caucus, to award the state’s 40 national convention delegates. After the chaotic rollout of a new caucus registration system, results of the preference poll were released shortly after midnight Mountain Standard Time, showing Trump with a convincing lead — 57.1% of the vote over Haley’s 41.76%. The AP called the race for Trump about 1:40 a.m.

Republicans and two minor parties held caucuses. Republicans also conducted a “presidential preference poll,” simultaneously with the caucus. The poll will determine which candidate gets the state’s 40 national convention delegates. The caucus will only select delegates for county and state conventions later this summer. Results were still pending from the GOP polls by midnight East Coast time.

Vermont: Vermont was a bright spot for Haley and only a slight road bump for Trump. It was the first state Haley won, stopping a Trump sweep in Republican primaries. Biden easily won among the Democrats.

Virginia: Biden and Trump faced light competition, easily winning their nominations. The primary election for Virginia’s only other statewide contest this year, the Senate seat held by Democrat Tim Kaine, will be in June.

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HINSDALE, IL - JUNE 10: Truck drivers navigate a rain-covered highway on the outskirts of Chicago on June 10, 2014 in Hinsdale, Illinois. Legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate that would ease restrictions on the number of hours truckers can drive each week is being questioned following a crash on the New Jersey Turnpike in which an allegedly sleep-deprived truck driver crashed into a bus, seriously injuring comedian Tracy Morgan and killing Morgan's friend, fellow comedian James "Jimmy Mack" McNair. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

By Talya Schwartz, Jimmy Lee, Emmanuelle Morgen, Hudson County Complete Streets

New Jersey faces a trio of transportation crises around an epidemic of preventable traffic violence, climate change and funding NJ Transit, and outdated, large-scale highway expansions.

In the midst of these challenges, Gov. Phil Murphy has nominated Francis O’Connor to be the next commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation. This role comes with broad responsibilities, and with the additional duties of chair of the NJ Transit and Turnpike Authority boards.

Given how critical this role is in facing this trio of crises, the Senate should use its advice and consent powers to determine whether the candidate meets the needs of the public. Specifically, the Senate has the opportunity to prioritize safe streets, improve public transportation, responsibly manage our state funds, and recognize that motor vehicles are the number one source of pollution in New Jersey.

Here are the most important questions for O’Connor to answer:

Vision Zero

Vehicular crashes are the top cause of death nationally for people ages 1 to 54. In 2022, New Jersey reached a 15-year high in total crash deaths, with over 700 killed statewide, and a 30-year high of 217 pedestrians killed in 2021. Many crash deaths are recurring on roadways that are well-known to be dangerous, and many of these high-injury roadways are state roads under state jurisdiction. For example, an aide of the governor was killed this year on Route 1, a notoriously dangerous highway with more than 20 traffic deaths per year. Jersey City, Hoboken, Middlesex County, and Hudson County have all committed to Vision Zero, a science-based, systems-based program for reducing traffic deaths that has successfully saved countless lives all around the world. Working with advocates, the Legislature is likely to pass a Vision Zero bill in 2024 that is in line with The United States Department of Transportation’s National Roadway Safety Strategy to reach zero traffic fatalities on our roads by 2040. Will you commit to working toward achieving zero deaths on NJ roadways? How will you work to make our roadways safer for all road users, including pedestrians and cyclists?

State-controlled highways run through many communities, dividing neighborhoods with rivers of high speed and unsafe traffic. For example, the upper level of Route 139 — the infamous highway on top of a highway — cuts through the heart of densely populated Jersey City, separating the Heights neighborhood from Journal Square, which is also the major transportation hub in the city. Moreover, 72% of the people living along the Turnpike corridor and along Route 139 in Hudson County are minorities and designated environmental justice communities. What can you do to repair these divided communities and respond to environmental justice community needs for safe ways to walk, bike, and use transportation alternatives in their own neighborhoods?

NJ Transit

NJ Transit is the third-largest transit agency in the country, providing more than 170 million trips per year, and yet it has the lowest amount of dedicated funding of all public transportation agencies. Without dedicated funding, NJ Transit faces a roughly $1 billion annual shortfall that may result in service cuts. We have seen in Hudson County that increased service and bus lines have driven increased demand, with more than 95% of bus ridership having returned to pre-COVID numbers. But so many problems with service routes, frequency, and reliability remain. Are you or will you commit to being a regular rider of NJ Transit trains and buses? What is your vision for improving the experience for NJ Transit riders in a growing and urbanizing state? How do you plan to increase the frequency and reliability of NJ Transit services? How do you propose to close the funding gap for NJ Transit?

NJ Transit has proposed a 15% fare hike, but it still does not offer a fare card for low-income riders and students, even though it’s the best way to ensure affordability and access to public transportation. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, for example, offers a fair fares program that gives a 50% discount for low-income residents. Additionally, transferring between buses, trains, and light rail remains both complicated and costly for riders, and technologically, it is lagging. What is your plan for prioritizing a fare system that includes fare cards for low-income and frequent riders? What is your plan for simplifying our ticketing system so that riders can easily transfer between modes of transportation and zones?

Over 90% of New Jersey-to-New York City commuters use mass transit, with roughly an even distribution of commuters riding NJ Transit trains, buses, and PATH. The Lincoln Tunnel’s exclusive bus lane, implemented in 1970, transports 10 times the number of passengers as the tunnel’s three car lanes combined. But service on all three public transit options is severely lacking and does not meet demand, resulting in long waits, particularly on evenings and weekends. Access to the economic engines and job centers of New York City and Philadelphia strongly drive New Jersey’s economy. How will you work with the Port Authority to expand bus lane hours beyond just weekday mornings and improve PATH frequency? Will you push for a dedicated bus lane on the 14-lane George Washington Bridge? What is your plan for a direct Hudson County-to-Newark-airport connection, which currently takes 90 minutes via NJ Transit?

The top source of climate change pollution in New Jersey is from vehicles, whereas trains and buses are the most climate-friendly modes of travel and freight transport. What will you do to incentivize public transportation and active transportation rather than continuing to promote car and truck travel through highway expansions? 

While NJ Transit’s capital budget continues to be raided and a roughly $1 billion dollar operating budget deficit looms, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority is planning to spend $24 billion on outdated, polluting, and inefficient highway expansions. Would you support increasing the allocation of Turnpike funds to NJ Transit via a revised Memorandum of Understanding?

NJ Turnpike and highways

Hudson County residents — together with the Jersey City mayor and the unanimous support of Jersey City City Council, Hoboken City Council — have opposed a planned $10.7 billion widening of the Route 78 Turnpike extension ending at the Holland Tunnel. The cost is enormous, roughly three times that of the entire Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system. Moreover, additional traffic will bottleneck either at the Holland Tunnel or on already congested local Hudson County roadways, bringing more trucks and more pollution and road dangers to urban and environmental justice communities. Will you commit to canceling the Turnpike widening project and redirecting funds to study and build more efficient and much-needed mass transit alternatives? 

Additionally, the Turnpike Authority is planning to spend $24 billion on highway expansions statewide, a decision pushed through in the early days of the pandemic with nearly zero public involvement. The last capital plan was only $7 billion, and induced demand has proven that over time, highway expansions will not alleviate traffic congestion — that within just a few years, more people will make a choice to drive, and the highway will be crowded again. Will you commit to accounting for the full climate and environmental justice impact of highway widening projects? And moreover, should the state be able to widen highways indefinitely?

New York City is implementing congestion pricing to fund transit and address climate, air pollution, and traffic safety concerns. What similar programs can New Jersey implement to recognize the externalities of traffic dangers and air pollution and reduce congestion in its urban and environmental justice communities?

An earlier version of this column should have said the George Washington Bridge has 14 lanes of traffic.

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The 2020 primary ballot in Monmouth County shows how Neptune Township committee candidate Kevin McMillan was placed in the sixth column, stranded in what critics of this ballot design have called “ballot Siberia.”

 By Amber Reed, Jeffrey Chang, Patrick Stegemoeller, Ronak Patel, and Bob Sakaniwa

During the pandemic, 32-year-old Hoan Huynh, a son of Vietnamese refugees who had built a successful career in social impact investing, was troubled by the way communities like his were being left behind.

When a legislative district seat in Illinois became vacant, Huynh quit his job and started campaigning from dawn until dusk, greeting people outside train stations, visiting senior centers, and knocking on doors in every street in his district. He won a five-way primary whose runner-up was a well-financed candidate endorsed by the Illinois governor and leading Democrats. Easily winning the general election, Huynh became the first Vietnamese American and first refugee in the Illinois Legislature.

Would Huynh’s story have been possible in New Jersey? Sadly, the answer is probably no.

If Huynh had been in New Jersey, instead of spending 14 hours a day connecting with voters, his time would have been better spent convincing a handful of unelected party leaders to award him “the line.” Uniquely in New Jersey, rather than arranging candidates simply by the office they are seeking, primary ballots in 19 of 21 counties string candidates selected by the Democratic and Republican parties’ county leadership together in a favorably placed vertical or horizontal line (generally the first line on the ballot). Conferring an average advantage of 38 percentage points, “the county line” pushes primary candidates not favored by the party to more distant, less populated rows or columns on the ballot, giving otherwise competitive and viable candidates a dubious appearance that is difficult to overcome.

New Jersey’s party leaders would have been unlikely to favor Huynh, as they would already have had a list of hand-picked favorites (or even family members) who had been waiting years for their “turn.” He might also have been chided for aspiring to a state-level office, and advised to “work his way up” from a municipal role. Perhaps Huynh would have run “off the line,” as a few courageous candidates of color in New Jersey have done, usually without success. More probably, not seeing a fair chance to serve the way he aspired to, he would have been too disenchanted to run at all.

There are over 1.1 million AAPIs in New Jersey — the fastest growing demographic — but how many potential elected leaders are there who could make a difference for our communities, but are never allowed the chance? Only 11% of primaries are contested in New Jersey, one of the lowest percentages nationwide. Candidates who run off the line are dogged not only by a massive disadvantage due to their ballot position, but by a general air of futility that makes it difficult to fundraise, a particularly serious barrier for candidates from immigrant and other marginalized communities.

The party leaders who predetermine the outcomes of our primary elections are generally older, whiter, and more male than New Jerseyans as a whole, as is the political representation their choices create. Illinois, like New Jersey, is not widely renowned for its lack of gatekeepers or corruption. But its ballots — like those of 48 other states — are designed fairly, giving communities of color a better chance of achieving proportional representation. Five percent of Illinois General Assembly members are Asian, a share roughly proportional to their overall population (6%). If New Jersey AAPIs’ representation in the Statehouse were proportional to our population (11%), there would be 13 AAPI legislators. Instead, there are 6.

While these legislators work hard to make what change they can, the AAPI community lives with the harmful effects of underrepresentation every day. Other states with large AAPI populations responded to the crises these communities faced during the pandemic by supporting them with AAPI “equity budgets” in the tens of millions of dollars. New Jersey’s AAPI curriculum mandate was a historic milestone, yet scant resources have been dedicated to this mandate, and two years in, the state commission meant to support it has not yet been seated. And we continue to be shut out of important policy conversations, as exemplified by our lack of representation on a high-profile maternal health commission, despite high rates of maternal mortality among AAPI women.

A healthy democracy is transparent, competitive, and leaves the most serious decision-making to those our Constitution entrusts: the voters. New Jersey must join the rest of the nation in having fair ballots and give AAPIs, and all of our communities of color, a fighting chance.

Amber Reed & Jeffrey Chang are Board Members of the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders of New Jersey; Ronak Patel & Patrick Stegemoeller are attorneys at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and Bob Sakaniwa is the Director of Policy & Advocacy at APIA Vote

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