As his final act in office, Gov. Murphy declined to sign key immigrant rights protections into law, fearing it would open the state up to federal action. Advocates say this leaves swaths of families vulnerable as ICE enforcement escalates nationwide. njurbannews.com/2026/01/20/m...

Advocates say Murphy’s final-hour veto leaves New Jersey immigrant communities at risk

Gov. Murphy used a pocket veto on two major NJ immigrant-protection bills, signing only one. Advocates warn of vulnerability as ICE enforcement escalates.

njurbannews.com

“… it’s savvy of @mayor.nyc.gov to invite influencers into a privileged space…But wouldn’t it be equally smart if *our* outlets were centered in announcements…Community, ethnic & independent media are not asking for special treatment.” @taylorjung.bsky.social HT @bdlimm.bsky.social CC @wbai.org

Who Gets Press Access in Mamdani's NYC? - Epicenter NYC

Mayor Mamdani’s ‘new media’ strategy prioritizes content creators while locking out the community outlets that serve NYC neighborhoods.

epicenter-nyc.com

Freelancing with a small community outlet that covered the protests in NJ! njurbannews.com/2025/10/20/n...

No Kings Protests Sweep NJ Amid Movement Against Trump Policies

Thousands in New Jersey join No Kings protests demanding democracy and civil rights amid national resistance to Trump administration policies.

njurbannews.com

The Media and Democracy Project@mediaanddemocracy.bsky.social · last yr.

#NoKings coverage was better by smaller outlets while editors of influential news outlets like NYTimes / WSJ / WaPo continue downplay & dampen coverage of the pro-democracy movement and demonstrations like #NoKings. See our analysis: mediaanddemocracyproject.substack.com/p/no-kings-c... 1/n

My latest, for @chalkbeat.org: El Puente, a leading environmental justice organization in Brooklyn, is fighting for its future after losing a $3M EPA grant due to cuts by the Trump administration. Decades of youth leadership and community work are at risk.

Youth programs at risk after Brooklyn nonprofit loses EPA grant to Trump DEI cuts

Brooklyn’s El Puente lost vital federal grants, jeopardizing its youth advocacy program. These cuts threaten environmental justice and community programs across the city.

chalkbeat.org

"Victoria Lee should be alive...we do not, today, find any hope or reason in the workings of the law in New Jersey." - Statement from AAPI NJ @dosocialjustice.bsky.social @njaij.bsky.social @zellieimani.bsky.social @stopaapihate.org @faithinnewjersey.bsky.social

Grand Jury Declines To Charge Officer Who Killed Victoria Lee

The decision comes almost one year after Fort Lee Police killed Lee while responding to her mental health emergency.

njurbannews.com

@mixedlinguist.bsky.social dropping facts on multiracial people not fitting census categories: www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8h6Tk71/

Our traditional demographic categories often just don’t work for people like Kamala Harris and Zohran Mamdani! This doesn’t mean they’re being disingenuous, it means our paperwork needs to be better, ...

TikTok video by Nicole Holliday

tiktok.com

Zohran Mamdani’s NYC mayoral primary win is inspiring hope and action across the river in NJ. Organizers and young voters see his campaign as a blueprint for change. They're pushing local leaders to listen to working families. By Priyanka Bansal, edited by me: njurbannews.com/2025/07/02/m...

Mamdani’s Win Sparks Hope For Many New Jerseyans

Zohran Mamdani’s NYC win sparks progressive energy in New Jersey, fueling hopes for housing, transit, and political change.

njurbannews.com

The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice released its landmark report on Juneteenth, providing sweeping policy proposals to enact reparations in NJ. It also provided a detailed history on why NJ is called “the slave state of the North.” My latest: njurbannews.com/2025/06/19/n...

New Jersey Council Recommends Reparations Policies In Historic Report

On Juneteenth, NJ’s reparations council released a report urging action to address the legacy of slavery and racial injustice in the state.

njurbannews.com

Burning water, insufficient food, toxic air. These are the conditions people faced inside a Newark immigrant detention facility leading up to last week's protests. My latest:

alex nguyen@alexjn.bsky.social · last yr.

“No federal agent is going to ever make me feel ashamed of where my people come from. And as much as they try to demonize people from Central America…and criminalize people from across the country, I’m not going to let them take away how joyful it makes me feel to be where I’m from.”

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey mayor is arrested at ICE detention center where he was protesting its opening, acting US attorney says.

60 Minutes found no criminal record for 75% of the Venezuelan migrants the U.S. sent to a mega-prison in El Salvador. https://cbsn.ws/4lC4Vp5

Cory Booker urges Democrats to act in first public appearance after record-breaking speech newjerseymonitor.com/2025/04/05/c... via @taylorjung.bsky.social

Cory Booker urges Democrats to act in first public appearance after record-breaking speech • New Jersey Monitor

Sen. Cory Booker told Democrats in Paramus not to let their inability to do everything undermine their determination to do something.

newjerseymonitor.com

@booker.senate.gov news is everywhere today but check out @bhulac.bsky.social's story for full context and fun facts you only get being there IRL. @njspotlightnews.bsky.social www.njspotlightnews.org/2025/04/book...

Meet this ‘moral moment,’ Booker challenges in record speech | NJ Spotlight News

New Jersey's senior senator denounces Trump agenda, mindful that he broke record set by segregationist Strom Thurmond.

njspotlightnews.org

NEW: GEO Group, whose stock is valued at $4 billion, says that state minimum wage laws don’t apply to the cleaning services that it’s asked detained migrants to perform at facilities where they’re kept. @mckenziefunk.com

An ICE Contractor Is Worth Billions. It’s Still Fighting to Pay Detainees as Little as $1 a Day to Work.

GEO Group, whose stock is valued at $4 billion, says that state minimum wage laws don’t apply to the cleaning services that it’s asked detained migrants to perform at facilities where they’re kept.

propublica.org

The Trump administration cut a clause from federal contracting rules that had been on the books since the 1960s: Companies are no longer explicitly prohibited from having segregated facilities

'Segregated facilities' are no longer explicitly banned in federal contracts

The Trump administration cut a clause from federal contracting rules that had been on the books since the 1960s: Companies are no longer explicitly prohibited from having segregated facilities.

npr.org

Over two years later, a state grand jury has decided not to criminally charge officers that killed #NajeeSeabrooks. His killing sparked a watershed movement in NJ, where advocates + communities pushed for police reform and non-law enforcement crisis emergency response programs.

After seven years, my time at NJ Spotlight News has come to an end. I'm leaving with immense gratitude for the stories I've told and the people I've met. I'm excited for what's next and remain passionate about social justice reporting.

Mahmoud Khalil's case is, unfortunately, not unique. Families are showing up to NJ's detention center, only to find out their loved ones are no longer there. It's becoming more difficult for families and lawyers to locate detainees. My latest: www.njspotlightnews.org/2025/03/ice-...

Families of ICE detainees say hard to locate loved ones in system | NJ Spotlight News

Families say lack of information distressing amid already heightened concern over threats of deportation, arrests under Trump administration.

njspotlightnews.org

Expired food. Drinking water from their hands. Conditions are deteriorating at New Jersey's only immigrant detention center. Advocates are sounding the alarm as plans move forward for a new facility that will quadruple the state's detention capacity.

NJ advocates slam plans for new immigrant ICE detention center | NJ Spotlight News

Advocates fear what a new immigrant detention facility in Newark would mean for ICE arrests and detentions in New Jersey.

njspotlightnews.org

“I was yelled at, intimidated by men with guns on their hips,” she said. “One man got right in my face and screamed that my attitude was fucking shit.” (From a reporter attempting to re-enter her own country.)

Brooke@brooklynmarie.bsky.social · last yr.

As I warned years ago: borders also keep you in.

The next time someone calls a reporter "biased" or an activist — especially someone who is a woman, a person of color, LGBTQ+, an immigrant, and/or disabled — ask them to articulate the difference between bias and expertise: longreads.com/2018/03/29/i...

being neurodivergent means figuring out every day (maybe every hour) what scrunched up position you're going to work in

ICE announced it will turn Delaney Hall into NJ's next detention center. Geo Group is the company which responded to ICE's original RFP. It also filed a complaint against NJ, which is currently battling CoreCivic over its law that (effectively) bans detention centers.

ICE expands detention capacity with Delaney Hall Facility in New Jersey

The facility will expand ICE’s detention capacity in the Northeast, enhancing the agency’s ability to manage the region’s growing enforcement and removal operations.

ice.gov

News: NPR chief diversity officer Keith Woods to retire, amid broad attack on DEI He told colleagues today that he has been planning his retirement since 2023 but delayed after home destroyed last year by Helene. It follows PBS's ouster of DEI execs. www.npr.org/2025/02/26/n...

NPR's chief diversity officer to retire, with DEI in the political spotlight

Chief Diversity Officer Keith Woods announced he'll retire after a 46-year career in journalism and 15 years at NPR, as the issue he has championed takes center stage in political discourse.

npr.org

Rep. Jeff Van Drew told reporters this afternoon he's undecided about to vote in his party's budget deal. That's scheduled for tonight. Van Drew on the fence not a good sign for passage. What this proposal means for NJ --> www.njspotlightnews.org/2025/02/cong... @njspotlightnews.bsky.social

GOP advances plans to slash social programs | NJ Spotlight News

Medicaid is in the crosshairs for Republicans in Congress, who are forging ahead with plans to cut taxes for the wealthy and corporations.

njspotlightnews.org

Youth subcultures used flamboyant fashion and jazz to reject Nazi conformity. Read more here ⤵️

During World War II, These Teens Used Music and Fashion to Resist the Nazis

Get to know the Zazous, the Swing Kids, and the Edelweiss Pirates.

teenvogue.com

The 3/1 deadline approaches for the DOJ to find institutions to criminally prosecute for "illegal DEI" practices. But law experts say it's not clear what criminal laws these programs violate. “DEI has basically...been turned into...a not-so-subtle racial slur,” said David Lopez, former EEOC counsel.

‘Chilling effect’ of Trump’s attacks on DEI programs? | NJ Spotlight News

Federal pressure to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives raises questions about the future of anti-discrimination programs.

njspotlightnews.org

SERENAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy launched a clemency initiative last year focused on people with excessive sentences, those convicted of now-legal offenses, and abuse survivors. It doesn’t automatically review cases—eligible people must still apply. boltsmag.org/new-jer...

For Abuse Survivors, a New Path to Release from New Jersey Prisons

Governor Phil Murphy commuted the sentences of three women convicted for killing abusers. Now advocates also want a legislative fix, and point to reforms in New York and Oklahoma.

boltsmag.org

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate confirms Russell Vought as White House budget director, putting Project 2025 architect at helm of powerful office.