Opinions | New Jersey’s unique political contours make challenging immigrant detention hard Mary Rizzo, Whitney Strub Jersey City Mayor Frank Hague (D) waits to testify before the New York State Joint Legislative Committee on Law Enforcement at a hearing in New York on Dec. 9, 1937. (Murray Becker/AP) New Jersey immigration politics has exploded into the national spotlight over the past month. Immigrants detained at the Bergen County jail have been on hunger strike for several weeks, while protesters outside have met with escalating police violence. At a fiery Hudson County commissioners meeting on Nov. 24 that lasted 12 hours, over 100 people unanimously spoke against the renewal of a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hold immigrant detainees in the county jail for revenue. When the freeholders voted to renew the contract anyway, reneging on a 2018 promise, condemnation came from New Jersey U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Robert
Honduran army soldiers chase supporters of former President Manuel Zelaya after violence broke out following a military coup in Tegucigalpa, Honduras on June 29, 2009 [File AP/Eduardo Verdugo]
On November 1, just prior to the elections in the United States, US President Donald Trump tweeted with regard to his Democrat rival: “[Joe] Biden is a proven Castro puppet! Vote TRUMP.”
The tweet did not specify any Castro in particular, but it is likely the reference was to late iconic Cuban leader Fidel, a staunch critic of US imperial aggression in Latin America and capitalism in general – a system he accurately saw as perpetuating poverty.