'Make Edison Great Again,' Anti-Immigration Election Flyer Says

EDISON, NJ — A racist campaign flyer suggesting deporting Indian and Asian school board candidates was sent to homes in Edison on Tuesday. The flyers say "Make Edison Great Again," and feature pictures of Jerry Shi and Falguni Patel, two Board of Education candidates of Asian descent, with the word "deport" stamped on them.

"The Chinese and Indians are taking over our town!" the flyer also says on the front.

"Stop the overcrowding! Stop taking over our sports fields!" the flyer says on the back, also decrying "McMansion homes," multiple families living in one house, "wasting school holidays," and "outsiders."

Not all homes in Edison received the flyer, which landed in mailboxes on Tuesday. It's not clear who distributed the flyer. There is no information included on the flyer regarding who paid for it, even though election flyers are required by law to disclose the funding source.

Patel and Shi are running as a team alongside incumbents Beth Moroney and Paul Distefano, both of whom are white. Three other candidates running are also of Asian descent. There are eleven candidates in total.

"It's disgusting. I hope that the individual or group behind it is caught," Distefano told Patch.

Edison has a large Asian population, particularly Southeast Asian. According to the 2010 census, the town's population of just over 100,000 is 43 percent Asian. Caucasian people make up 44 percent of the town's population.

Edison is known for it's "Little India" section of town along Oak Tree Road. It's typical to see groups playing cricket on public fields on the weekends, and many homes decorate with string lights to celebrate Diwali. Many Asian-American students attend private Chinese and Indian school on the weekends.

Edison public school students have been given the day off for Chinese New Year for a number of years, and were given Diwali, an Indian holiday, off for the first time this October, a decision that caused controversy among some in the town.

Both mayoral candidates, Democrat and incumbent Tom Lankey and Republican Keith Hahn, denounced the flyer. Numerous council members and Board of Education candidates have spoken out as well.

Patch has reached out to Shi and Patel for comment.

Images provided to Patch and used with permission