Justice for our immigrant neighbors

To the Editor:

On Memorial Day, day four of a detainee hunger strike at Delaney Hall, Newark's notorious immigration detention facility, the federal government showed its true colors once again. The deplorable conditions that provoked the strike, including rotting food, dirty drinking water, and a brewing Covid outbreak, had been hidden behind the facility's walls. But when community supporters showed up to protest the brutal conditions and removal of a strike leader, the ugly side of federal immigration enforcement came into full view. ICE rained down pepper spray and rubber batons on protesters and elected officials alike, including NJ Senator Andy Kim. Delaney Hall even denied entry to Governor Sherrill, who had come to see conditions for herself.

What needs to come into clearer focus is the chaotic legal landscape behind this story. The Trump administration has suspended most asylum proceedings, conducted mass sweeps of immigrants with and without criminal records, and effectively eliminated bond hearings that allowed people in immigration proceedings to remain free while awaiting their day in court. As a result, immigrant arrests and detentions in NJ are up 400 percent. Many people are languishing in detention or have been deported without ever seeing a lawyer.

New Jersey can and must do better. Increasing the budget for the state-funded program that provides free legal representation to low-income NJ residents in removal proceedings is a start. It needs to increase from $8.2 to $20 million, if we're going to treat our immigrant neighbors with the rights, dignity, and justice they deserve.