While Murphy balks at asylum seekers, these groups are already settling them in NJ

New Jersey politicians may have balked at the idea of accepting more Latin American migrants. But on the ground, advocates say they have already been helping hundreds of them to settle in the Garden State.

Rather than "immigrant-bashing," the state would do more good by helping them ease the immigrants into their new lives, those advocates say.

"Last year, there were some families from Nicaragua that we were able to house and provide the basics and then help them learn the system and navigate the system as far as registering kids for school, going to food pantries and get driver licenses," said Carlos Castenada, an organizer with Cosecha NJ, an immigrants rights group.

Castenada and the Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale, co-pastor at the Reformed Church of Highland Park, spoke with North Jersey.com of their organizations' efforts to help refugees and asylum seekers. Days earlier, Gov. Phil Murphy and other officials had shot down a federal suggestion that the Atlantic City International Airport could house some of the migrants that have filled tent cities, churches and other facilities to overflow in New York City.

While decrying some of the rhetoric of New Jersey officials, they also took a dim view of the Biden administration's proposal.

"I do not think airplane bases make any sense for proper treatment of asylum seekers in this country," Kaper-Dale said.

Atlantic City plan panned

Bloomberg News reported last week that the Atlantic City airport, located 9 miles northwest of the city, was one of 11 federally owned facilities on a list that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security submitted to New York City of where asylum seekers could be relocated. New York Mayor Eric Adams has been trying to move migrants out of the city, where an estimated 100,000 have come since spring 2022, according to a USA Today report.

Murphy, asked about the idea during a News 12 New Jersey appearance, said he did not see "any scenario" where the relocation could happen in Atlantic City or anywhere else in the state. He said he had not been informed by Biden Administration officials about the proposal and that the state would need enormous federal support for it to happen.

Democratic and Republican officials from the Atlantic City area were even less measured in their pushback during a press conference last Friday.

Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small, a Democrat, complained that other municipalities “continuously dump their less fortunate on the great city of Atlantic City." U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Republican who represents New Jersey's 2nd Congressional District, said the proposal was an example of the Biden Administration transporting asylum seekers "by bus, by air, by train, by any means possible" across the country.

"I guarantee you − I will put my name upon it − that there will be individuals who are criminals," he added, according to a report in The Press of Atlantic City.

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Immigrant rights groups, including Cosecha NJ, held a counter-protest on Tuesday in Atlantic City, where they called the comments from politicians "xenophobic" and "anti-immigrant."

Castaneda, who was at the Tuesday press conference, said he and his fellow activists were disappointed but not surprised by the backlash.

"There are very few times that Democrats and Republicans in South Jersey get together," Castaneda said. "Instead of doing something productive, they hide behind the narrative of lack of resources to really do immigrant bashing."

Of Murphy's initial response, Castaneda said the governor "could have said a lot of other things" that would have been more productive. But he also faulted the Biden administration for what he considered a poorly thought-out proposal.

Castenada said the state should work with community organizations as it has done in the past to figure out how to help people coming to New Jersey. He said that involves working with a group like Cosecha NJ, which has aided immigrant families coming from New York and the country's southern border to settle in communities across the state.

"Governor Murphy could have said something like, 'Hey, if they're planning to relocate migrants to New Jersey, the best thing to do is to sit down and think it through as a community,' rather than saying, 'No, we can't afford it now'," Castenada said. "We also understand that it's not the state that is responsible for it; it's the federal government that's been dragging [immigration reform] for years."

Murphy defends his record on immigration

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Murphy defended the state's track record on dealing with immigrants, saying, "No state has done more for our immigrant population in the past six years than New Jersey." He cited laws allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver licenses and granting eligible undocumented students access to state financial aid.

Kaper-Dale has also been helping immigrants across the state. He founded DIRE, a grassroots emergency response immigrant support team. This year, it has helped over 300 immigrant families settle in New Jersey, he said.

The pastor, who ran against Murphy as a Green Party candidate in 2017, said the governor has "done right by immigrants and asylum seekers" during his time in office with various policies.

He took issue with New York Mayor Adams, saying he has turned what had been normal practice of urban areas receiving immigrants into a complicated matter. And he criticized the Biden administration's proposal of relocation sites.

"I think the Biden administration is foolish to say, 'Why don't we come up with all of these set-apart places where we can create set-apart systems of poverty and disconnect'," Kaper-Dale said. "I don't ever like things like this. Immigrants find their way in America when they are given the dignity of being able to move into communities, live with their relatives, make connections, and climb their way up."

Ricardo Kaulessar covers race, immigration and culture for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com

Twitter: @ricardokaul

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ immigrant advocates protest as state blocks plan for asylum seekers