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Undocumented residents falling deeper into debt as they await state stimulus
Monica Galindo lost her husband just as the coronavirus pandemic hit New Jersey. After 20 years of marriage, the 44-year-old mother of three became the only breadwinner of her household. That same month, she lost her job cleaning houses as pandemic restrictions took hold, and fell behind on rent and light bills. As an undocumented […]
New Jersey adds 14,600 jobs as state recovers from pandemic
Nearly 18 months since the coronavirus pandemic sent unemployment rates skyrocketing and shuttered businesses for months, New Jersey has recovered 62% of jobs lost, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said in a monthly jobs report. The state added 14,600 jobs in July, bringing the total number of jobs added since March 2020 to 441,700, […]
Essex County no longer in ICE business, but activists hold their cheers
For 13 years, the Essex County jail that held undocumented immigrants was at the center of fiery protests and confrontations, both from activists protesting in the streets of Newark and the detainees staging hunger strikes inside. Essex County Correctional Facility finally ceded to activists this year and cut its contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs […]
Calls grow for N.J. to use federal aid to replenish unemployment fund
A growing, bipartisan chorus of lawmakers and business groups are calling on New Jersey to use federal stimulus dollars to replenish the state’s unemployment trust fund. The pleas for help came as the state wrestles with how to restore the fund, which lost millions as jobless claims skyrocketed during the pandemic. The fund needs a […]
Businesses pray for hiring boom after fed unemployment benefits expire
Nancy Mercurio is looking forward to Sept. 6. Mercurio, who owns a Haddon Heights dog sitting business, brought back most of her employees when appointments resumed in June 2020. A few didn’t want to come back, she said, so she’s had three positions open for months. The responses she’s gotten aren’t encouraging. Some interviewees don’t […]
Progressive activists call for investigation into senator for alleged ‘no-show job’
Sen. Nicholas Scutari, who was the subject of several investigations into his job as Linden’s prosecutor, is facing intensifying criticism, now from a group of progressive Democrat activists who want the state’s Joint Legislative Committee of Ethical Standards to probe Scutari’s actions. One of the activists behind the ethics probe demand, Sue Altman, director of […]
Growing chorus of immigrant advocates urge Murphy to sign bill banning ICE contracts
It’s been six weeks since immigration advocacy groups began urging Gov. Phil Murphy to sign the bill on his desk banning federal immigration detention center contracts. Now, those calls are mounting — even coming from across the Hudson River — as progressive groups press the Democrat to make New Jersey the fifth state to ban […]
N.J. continuously failed to keep women prisoners safe from sexual abuse, DOJ says
After years of repeated sexual abuse committed at the hands of corrections officers in the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility, New Jersey officials reached an agreement with the federal government to overhaul the women’s prison system. On Tuesday the U.S. Department of Justice announced new reforms would be implemented at Edna Mahan, the state’s only women’s […]
N.J. cops can’t share immigration info with feds, appeals court decides
New Jersey’s Immigrant Trust Directive, an order restricting authorities from sharing immigration information with federal officials, has been upheld by a federal appeals court, ending a legal battle between the state and two counties. The three-judge panel rejected the counties’ arguments that federal law pre-empts New Jersey from implementing the directive, which immigrant advocates say has […]
Announcement of mask mandate in N.J. schools greeted with cheers, boos
New Jersey teachers and students getting ready for school this fall will have to add one more thing to their back-to-school lists: masks. New Jersey will reinstate its mask mandate for all K-12 students, teachers, and staff, regardless of vaccination status, for the upcoming school year, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Friday. “I want as much […]
N.J. courts adjourning some eviction cases for 60 days
On the heels of major changes to the state’s eviction moratorium, eviction cases in New Jersey courts will be adjourned while applications for rental assistance are processed. The New Jersey Judiciary said Thursday the adjudications will allow time for parties to resolve the cases using rental relief funds, if possible. In order for the eviction […]
As eviction moratoriums change, who is protected in N.J.?
Moratoriums and executive orders put in place to keep renters in their homes during the coronavirus pandemic are expiring across the country while health concerns and high unemployment rates continue. But even as the Centers for Disease Control reinstates a 60-day eviction ban for parts of the country — a ban President Joe Biden has […]