🚨ICE arrests spark outrage across New Jersey
🚨Sen. Booker and Gov. Mikie Sherrill blast ICE, accusing the agency of overreach
🚨A fight over ICE funding could lead to a federal government shutdown
MORRISTOWN — Following the arrest of 11 people by ICE, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., spoke against a rumored ICE detention center planned for Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s home county of Morris.
Booker and Sherrill have been vocal critics of ICE’s actions, labeling them as overreaching and detrimental to community safety.
On Wednesday, New Jersey’s senior senator was in Morristown and Roxbury Wednesday where he joined residents opposing a large-scale holding center that would house 1,500, according to reports by the Washington Post and Newsweek on Dec. 24. ICE officials inspected a possible site for the facility on Jan. 14, according to TAP into Roxbury.
ICE already uses detention facilities in Newark and Elizabeth.
Proposed ICE detention center in Morris County sparks backlash
Booker made it clear that whatever ICE may be planning for Roxbury will not have his support
“Right now, this is an agency out of control and I’m going to do everything I can to stop the nightmares that are visited upon small towns, big cities, and communities all across our country,” Booker said. “But here in Jersey, we have to do a lot more. We have to stop to have any ICE detention facility built in our state.”
Funding for ICE and DHS could be at the center of a possible federal government shutdown on Jan. 30.
House Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries, Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar announced in a closed-door meeting they would oppose the Homeland Security bill. With Republicans in charge of both chambers of Congress and the White House, Democrats have few good options to express their opposition. Speaker Mike Johnson voices confidence the funding bills will pass, including the Homeland Security measure.
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Gov. Mikie Sherrill calls ICE a ‘proto militia’
Gov. Mikie Sherrill also spoke out against ICE’s actions in New Jersey during an appearance on MS NOW’s Morning Joe, calling them President Donald Trump’s “proto militia.” She said that New Jersey law enforcement will fight “tooth and nail for public safety” to protect against ICE agents entering homes without a warrant.
“This is the bedrock of how we keep people safe is to have our law enforcement who are carrying weapons on our streets with our children on the street, act in scope of their duties. ICE is completely outside the scope,” Sherrill said.
Arrests by ICE agents have increased in New Jersey in recent weeks. Two people were taken into custody in Red Bank two days after Bruce Springsteen blasted ICE during the Light of Day Foundation Winterfest concert Saturday.
Two more were taken into custody in Princeton on Jan. 14. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson identified the Princeton detainees as Selvin Estuardo Galicia and Jose Tunche-Dieguez, both from Guatemala.
“Both entered the U.S. illegally at an unknown time and broke our nation’s immigration laws. They will remain in ICE custody until they are removed,” the spokesperson told New Jersey 101.5 in an email.
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Significant or historical events in New Jersey for January (in chronological order)
Here are some of the historical or significant events that happened in New Jersey during January. Is there an event missing? Let us know with an email to dan.alexander@townsquaremedia.com.
Gallery Credit: Dan Alexander
