Four progressive Democrats in New Jersey’s House delegation sent a letter to Gov. Phil Murphy today seeking information on the state’s handling of recent migrant arrivals and requesting to meet with the governor’s office about potential future influxes of migrants.
In the letter, Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing), Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson), Donald Payne Jr. (D-Newark), and Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City) – all of whom represent districts with large immigrant and Latino populations – excoriated Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to send buses of migrants to New Jersey from the southern border, an action they called “shameful and inhumane.”
“It is our solemn duty as Americans to do what we can to ensure that we help those fleeing from conflicts, wars, and disasters,” the four House members wrote. “As members of the New Jersey delegation in Congress, we want to ensure close coordination between all federal, state, and local partners to navigate this situation. Our priority is to ensure humanitarian needs are taken care of and our state and local officials have the proper resources at their disposal as more migrants arrive.”
The letter asks several questions of Murphy’s administration, including what conversations the governor’s office has had with the federal government and with Texas officials, what resources are available for local officials and municipalities, and what role NJ Transit has played in transporting migrants, among other things.
The migrants that arrived this week were ultimately headed for New York City, but stopped in New Jersey first to skirt new rules regarding charter buses traveling into the city. Abbott, alongside other Republican governors, first began sending migrants to blue states and cities in 2022 in protest of Democrats’ immigration policies.
Many New Jersey politicians have not shared the sympathetic tone displayed by the four signatories of today’s letter. Edison Mayor Sam Joshi, a Democrat whose town was one of several places where migrants were dropped off, said bluntly that the migrants are “illegal” and “not welcome here,” while GOP Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-Dennis) blamed the crisis on Murphy and President Joe Biden.
“South Jersey will continue to make it fully known to the Governor that we refuse to face the same fate as New York City, which has been forced to cut public safety and education funding in order to feed and provide housing to individuals who crossed our border illegally,” Van Drew said on Monday. “Governor Murphy must make it clear that New Jersey is not a sanctuary state and I want to make this abundantly clear: illegal migrants are not welcome in South Jersey.”