A quick update from the Immigrant Trust Tour: we’ve just had three Immigrant Trust Act (ITA) resolutions passed here in New Jersey in the last few weeks. The first was at the Somerset County Board of County Commissioners in Somerville (Nov. 12, unanimous), the second, at the Mercer County Board of County Commissioners in Trenton (Nov. 24, unanimous), and the third passed tonight at Clifton City Council (Dec. 2, 4-3). Mercer County was friendly and receptive, but Clifton was a tough battle–contentious and occasionally hostile. I wasn’t privy to goings-on at Somerset. In any case, three wins.

Resistencia’s Mercer County Commission team

Congratulations to everyone involved in all three campaigns, but especially to Asma Elhuni of Resistencia en Acción, who did so much of the Mercer County organizing, to Dawn Cohen who (with many others) did the Somerset County organizing, and to Jeff Hoey who did so much of the Clifton organizing.  That brings the total number of pro-ITA municipal resolutions to 27, and county resolutions to 5.

The pro-ITA movement is highly decentralized, so there are people all over the state campaigning for resolutions in different places. I personally would like to get resolutions passed at the Middlesex County Board of Commissioners, and at the municipal councils of West Orange, East Orange, Irvington, West Windsor, East Windsor, Hamilton, and Lawrence. It’s a tall order, but it seems do-able.

Right now, West Orange has agreed to put a resolution on the agenda in the near future (though unclear when), and Lawrence is considering one for December 16. The hope is to induce the speakers of the state senate and assembly, Nicholas Scutari and Craig Coughlin respectively, to move the ITA in the state legislature and finally get it passed. They’ve so far held it up for fourteen months, but declined to explain why. There is, in my view, a fairly straightforward (but unfortunate) explanation why, which I’ll write up soon in a post here. Meanwhile, I’m glad to have some progress to report.