It’s now become a kind of axiom in American politics that “open borders” are an absurd idea. Even Analilia Mejia, the left-most candidate among New Jersey’s Democrats, is quick to disavow the idea. “How do you have a country without borders?” she asks. Since you can’t, we can’t have open borders. Open borders means no country; no country means chaos. We can’t have chaos, so we must disavow open borders.
Continue readingCategory Archives: migrant defense
Whose Streets?
Permits, Nazis, and the Reclamation of Public Space
A pointed question came up during Public Comments at Princeton Municipal Council a few weeks ago, namely: “Why was a neo-Nazi group ‘allowed’ to march in Princeton despite lacking a permit?” As I’ve suggested here before, this is the wrong question to ask. It also diverts attention away from a series of questions that badly need asking.
Continue readingWhere Does Joe Krakoviak Stand on an ICE-Free West Orange?
Anyone who follows this blog knows that I split my time between Princeton and West Orange, New Jersey, and that I’ve made the case for ICE-Free legislation in both towns. If you don’t follow this blog, you know it now.
As it happens, both Princeton and West Orange have passed some form of ICE-Free legislation. Princeton passed an ICE-Free resolution in late September; West Orange mayor Susan McCartney issued an ICE-Free Executive Order in mid August. Both developments are good news, but Princeton has shown more wisdom in this respect than West Orange: while a resolution is law whose repeal requires the passage of a contrary resolution, an Executive Order can be repealed at will by the next mayor.
Continue readingICE Out of the Bronx
The Bronx has a lot to be proud of tonight. Unfortunately, I seem to be having some trouble directly embedding the Facebook video I want, but this link takes you to it (the video is taken by Christina Alvarado of the Bronx, whose other videos are worth watching as well). Forget the Mayor’s statement and all of the furrowed-brow commentary out there in the mainstream media, and watch the people of the Bronx acting true to type in their native element.
Continue readingICE-Free Princeton Redux
The Missing Piece of the Story
I was happy to see some modest coverage of Princeton’s having passed an ICE-Free resolution: the story was covered by The Daily Princetonian and Princeton Patch. But I have a bone to pick with both of these articles. In both cases, the passage of the resolution is described as though the initiative for it began with the Council. That’s not true. It began because I privately raised the issue back in June; the Mayor and Council agreed to pursue it, and kept me apprised of their progress. I then raised it publicly in August, and the resolution passed near the end of September.
Princeton Is an ICE-Free Zone
I’d intended to read a statement at Princeton Municipal Council tonight, underscoring the urgency of the need for an ICE-Free Zone in Princeton, but it turned out to be unnecessary. (An ICE-Free Zone is one which restricts the federal government’s use of municipal property for purposes of immigration enforcement when ICE lacks a judicial warrant; it’s not literally a zone that ICE can never enter.) Around 9 am, I got a voicemail from Councilwoman Mia Sacks telling me that a resolution was on the agenda, and up for vote. Resolution R-26-299 passed unanimously around 9 pm tonight. I’m grateful to the Mayor and Council for their efforts.
Rev Erich Kussman of St Bartholomew’s Lutheran Church, Trenton, leading the Peoples’ Prayer Vigil at Delaney Hall, Newark, June 2026
ICE-Free Zone for Princeton (2)
Statement to Princeton Municipal Council
400 Witherspoon St
September 28, 2026, 7 pm
As I know you’re aware, over the summer I made the case to the Mayor and Council for an ICE-Free Zone for Princeton, meaning a resolution or ordinance restricting the use of township property by federal immigration authorities. I appreciate the receptivity of the Mayor and Council to that proposal, and the work they’ve already put into it. But I wanted to highlight the urgency of the issue.
Continue readingLivin’ La Vida Loca
A lachrymose plea for sympathy from a popular MAGA influencer who’s sometimes quoted at me online. He recently moved to Shelby County, Tennessee from Alabama.
West Orange: ICE-Free at Last
As I’ve mentioned here a few times, I split my time between Princeton and West Orange, New Jersey. So I pay attention to local politics in both places, and engage in activism in both.
Since the fall of 2025, I’ve written seven or eight posts here describing the effort to persuade West Orange’s municipal government to take a stand in favor of migrant rights and against ICE. In 2025, the effort focused on getting West Orange Council to pass a resolution in favor of the Immigrant Trust Act. In 2026, it’s focused on getting the Council to pass what’s commonly called ICE-Free legislation.
Continue readingThe Neo-Nazis and the Permit Raj
Princeton Patch has now confirmed that a white supremacist rally did in fact take place in Princeton this past Saturday afternoon, August 29th. Don’t miss the neo-Nazi video embedded in the article, “Youth in Revolt.” Apparently, the spirit of Leni Riefenstahl never quite died.
Unfortunately, the rally is (like so many things) increasingly being seen as a law enforcement matter, and the police, fixated by definition on matters of law enforcement, are now pursuing the thought that the people participating in the rally lacked a permit to march down the street or through Monument Park, and should have had one. Law enforcement’s idea of a solution to the rise of neo-Nazism in Princeton is to set up a Permit Raj: demand that activists get permits to exercise the privilege of assembling, marching, chanting, or holding signs. And make sure to demote those activities to the status of privileges in the process.
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