Regional Funder Briefing Series: New Jersey
Despite the barrage of troubling headlines out of Washington, D.C., the reality of how Americans experience their daily lives plays out at the state and local levels in the communities where they live. As has long been observed, states are the laboratories of democracy, where innovative and promising policies can be tested before being replicated in other states or at the federal level.
In the context of heightened threats to immigrant and refugee communities – and indeed to residents of any immigration status standing up against oppressive federal militarization – states and localities have advanced a range of policies designed to keep all of their residents safe, healthy, and thriving. With examples such as banning 287(g) agreements, limiting data sharing, pushing back against masked and unidentified federal agents, and expanding access to health programs and higher education, many of these ideas originated and were shepherded into law by community-based organizations and advocates at the state and local level. At the same time, mutual aid, legal services, and power-building strategies are being deployed to mitigate harm and lay the foundation for a better tomorrow.
In this regional funder briefing series, GCIR, Four Freedoms Fund, and philanthropic intermediaries across the country are partnering to spotlight the work of creative and powerful organizations that will provide a current state of play in their home states and will uplift contemporary needs, strategies, and opportunities for funder support.
New Jersey Briefing
The second largest state by foreign-born population percent (24.2%) and fifth largest by the total number of immigrants (2.2 million), New Jersey is home to a dynamic and thriving immigrant and refugee community that often flies below the radar. While regional immigration discussions tend to center on states like California and Texas, New Jersey is a highly consequential state in the fight for immigrant justice. New Jersey’s Delaney Hall – the largest detention facility on the East Coast – was thrust into the national spotlight last year when Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and several members of congress were arrested outside of the facility while attempting to exercise their oversight authority. One year later, U.S. Senator Andy Kim was pepper sprayed by ICE outside of the same facility during a protest calling attention to an ongoing hunger strike by detainees over inhumane conditions.
Advocates had previously successfully pushed for a ban on private detention in the state before it was overturned by courts. Other key victories included the passage of drivers licenses for immigrants, passage of the Immigrant Trust Directive, and, most recently, a prohibition on ICE conducting raids on state property signed into law by newly-elected Gov. Mikie Sherrill. Still, significant work remains to scale up legal and other services for immigrants in the state, and a fight is currently underway between government officials around DHS plans to construct an immigration detention warehouse in Roxbury.
In this discussion, we will hear from leading coalitions of advocates and providers across the Garden State about their work to make New Jersey a welcoming and inclusive home for all, and we will learn how philanthropy can support these efforts.
Speakers
Priscilla Monico Marín, Executive Director, New Jersey Consortium for Immigrant Children
Alexandra Goncalves-Pena, Legal Director, American Friends Service Committee
Katy Sastre, Executive Director, First Friends of NJ & NY
Amy Torres, Executive Director, New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice
Moderator
Sharif Braxton, Director, EQUIP NJ
Cost: Free
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