Noticias

President Donald Trump’s administration has confirmed that it plans to use Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JBMDL) in Burlington and Ocean Counties as an immigrant detention center, but when and how will the enormous new facility begin operations? Two New Jersey congressmen are trying to find out.

In a letter to three top Trump administration officials, Rep. Herb Conaway (D-Delran), who represents half of the base in Congress, and Rep. Donald Norcross (D-Camden) wrote that they have “serious concerns” about the plan, and asked a number of detailed questions about how the administration intends to go about potentially detaining thousands of immigrants at the base.

“Given the limited information provided, we believe further transparency is necessary to ensure JBMDL’s mission readiness is not compromised,” states the letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, and acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons. “Additionally, we want to ensure all individuals detained at the base are afforded humane living conditions, legal representation, and due process.”

The letter was also co-signed by every other New Jersey House Democrat except for Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair). 

The Republican congressman who represents the other half of JBMDL, however, has been more supportive of the Trump administration’s efforts. In a statement released late last week, Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) said that he’s been briefed by Department of Defense officials on its detention and deportation plans, and added that JBMDL has been used for housing migrants before, such as when thousands of Afghan refugees stayed there during the Biden administration.

“I have represented parts of this great military facility for more than 40 years, and I am proud to have worked to expand, strengthen and save JBMDL from multiple attempted base closings and alignment rounds,” Smith said. “The DOD knows that our facility has been used successfully for temporary migrant housing in the past and, if called upon, will step up and serve our national needs with excellence once again.”

Reports that JBMDL could be used as part of the Trump administration’s far-reaching immigrant detainment and deportation agenda first arose in February, and Hegseth confirmed those plans in a letter to Conaway on July 15. Conaway and Norcross visited the base itself last week, but said that the base’s commanders were just as much in the dark as they were on what would happen.

Per Conaway’s and Norcross’s letter, JBMDL may house between 1,000 to 3,000 “adult, low-threat undocumented immigrants,” which could make it the largest detention facility on the East Coast. New Jersey already has two other operational detention facilities: Delaney Hall in Newark, which has around 1,000 beds, and the Elizabeth Detention Center, which has around 300.

The two congressmen wrote today that they’ve learned that JBMDL may not be reimbursed for all costs associated with the detention plan, which they said “raises serious concerns about the diversion of critical defense resources from national security priorities.” They also said they’ve been told that operations at the facility are not expected to start this fiscal year, meaning that JBMDL may not begin housing detainees until October 1 at the earliest.

Plenty of other questions, though, remain outstanding: what preparations are underway to prepare the base? Will the construction of a new intermediate staging base (ISB) interfere with JBMDL operations? What costs will DHS reimburse? What will the conditions be like for immigrants detained there?

The congressmen requested a “prompt briefing” on those questions, and written responses by no later than August 15.

The post Conaway, Norcross ask feds for more details on joint base immigrant detention plan appeared first on New Jersey Globe.

Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop said former Gov. Jim McGreevey is “on track” to be the city’s next mayor, saying the other candidates haven’t offered a vision necessary to beat the former governor. 

Fulop chose to run for governor instead of a fourth term as mayor; he finished third in the June primary. Fulop gave the analysis in a social media post on X after a resident shared a mailer from McGreevey, who called for an expansion of rapid transit throughout the city.

“As things stand, McGreevey is on track to be the next mayor,” Fulop wrote. “Unless the other candidates show some vision or courage, which they haven’t, he’ll keep gaining ground.”

The non-partisan race has a crowded field. In addition to McGreevey, City Councilman James Solomon, Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea, former Board of Education President Mussab Ali, and Council President Joyce Watterman are seeking the office. McGreevey served as governor from 2002 until his resignation in 2004 amid a sex scandal.

McGreevey did not immediately return a request for comment.

Fulop told the New Jersey Globe that his post was “not an endorsement of McGreevey or any candidate for that matter but the other candidates are just not making their case with any vision or ideas and are simultaneously getting out maneuvered.”

“The rest are stuck recycling tired lines: ‘developers bad,’ ‘everyone’s corrupt,’ ‘Jersey City is a mess’ with no vision beyond those talking points,” Fulop wrote in the post.

The post Fulop says McGreevey is ‘on track’ to win mayorship appeared first on New Jersey Globe.

One day after a New Jersey defendant filed a motion arguing that allowing acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba to prosecute his case would be a violation of his due process rights, the Justice Department has submitted a 28-page brief laying out why Habba’s appointment was made properly and should be allowed to stand.

The crux of the brief, written by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Coyne, is that President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi ultimately have final say over who gets to serve as acting U.S. Attorney – a power they used last week when they chose Habba in place of a career prosecutor appointed by New Jersey’s federal judges – and that disagreements over Habba’s appointment shouldn’t interfere with cases that her office is prosecuting.

“The President has made clear that he will not permit anyone other than Ms. Habba to fill the current vacancy in the office of the United States Attorney on a temporary basis,” states the brief, which was officially submitted by Habba, Bondi, and two other Justice Department officials. “That is his prerogative; this Court cannot second-guess it.”

The case is being overseen by Judge Matthew Brann of the Middle District of Pennsylvania; Brann received the assignment from the Third Circuit yesterday in place of Judge Edward Kiel of New Jersey, presumably to avoid any conflicts of interest given how closely entangled New Jersey’s District Court is with the dispute at hand. A status conference has been scheduled for today at 3 p.m.

Habba had been named by Trump as New Jersey’s interim U.S. Attorney in March, an appointment that came with a time limit of 120 days unless Habba could either win confirmation in the U.S. Senate or earn the support of a majority of New Jersey’s District Court judges. Habba’s nomination, submitted to the Senate on July 1, never moved forward, and federal judges voted last week to instead appoint First Assistant U.S. Attorney Desiree Grace, Habba’s deputy, as the new U.S. Attorney once Habba’s term expired on July 25.

The Trump administration pre-empted that, however, by firing Grace as First Assistant U.S. Attorney and replacing her with Habba, who then automatically ascended to the role of acting U.S. Attorney, thus extending her tenure. Habba’s Senate nomination was also withdrawn, since pending nominees cannot become acting U.S. Attorneys.

Grace tried to insist that the judges’ vote still stood and that she’d take office as U.S. Attorney at midnight on July 26, but to no avail. In its brief today, the Trump administration publicly confirmed for the first time that even if Grace had taken office, she would have been immediately removed by Trump anyways.

In a motion filed yesterday, attorney Thomas Mirigliano argued that by overriding the federal judges’ vote, and by choosing someone as acting U.S. Attorney who until recently had been a pending nominee in the Senate, Trump and Bondi had violated the law and the due process rights of his client, Julien Giraud Jr., who faces drug and weapons charges.

The motion asked either that Giraud’s indictment be dismissed or that Habba and her office be prevented from prosecuting him. Per the New York Times, federal court proceedings across New Jersey were quickly brought to a halt yesterday as prosecutors and judges wait to see whether Habba’s authority as acting U.S. Attorney is determined to be legitimate.

The arguments put forward by today’s Justice Department brief are twofold. First, the brief contends that nothing about Habba’s appointment was “irregular,” as Mirigliano had alleged; by resigning as interim U.S. Attorney and withdrawing her nomination from the Senate, it argues, Habba dutifully followed the requirements of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and was eligible to become acting U.S. Attorney.

“The Attorney General properly appointed her as the First Assistant United States Attorney; the First Assistant can serve as the Acting United States Attorney under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act when that office is vacant; and the President properly removed as United States Attorney an individual whom the District Court for the District of New Jersey purported to appoint,” it states.

(The brief also takes issue with the fact that the judges’ vote to appoint Grace happened several days before Habba’s tenure ended, and thus they had no actual vacancy to fill. The firing of Grace as First Assistant, and the appointment of Habba to replace her, all happened before the judges had any official authority to act, it argues.)

Secondly, the brief argues that regardless of the appointment dispute, Habba has also been appointed as a Special Attorney to the Attorney General with specific authority over the District of New Jersey, which gives her the legal authority to continue overseeing cases and nullifies Mirigliano’s argument that prosecutions coming from her and her office are illegitimate.

“Whether or not Ms. Habba technically qualifies as Acting United States Attorney, the Attorney General has validly delegated to her the authority to supervise all pending prosecutions and other matters in the USAO-NJ,” it states. “Similarly, the Assistant U.S. Attorneys assigned to those matters exercise the Attorney General’s delegated authority subject to her supervision. And there is no basis in any event to disqualify the entire USAO-NJ from those matters.”

Allowing any outcome other than Habba’s continued service as U.S. Attorney, the brief ultimately asserts, would be a violation of the separation of powers and an infringement on Trump’s and Bondi’s authority to appoint and fire prosecutors at their choosing.

“The real separation of powers violation in this case would be to force the President and Attorney General to permit a judicially appointed United States Attorney to remain in office despite their stated preference for someone else to lead that office,” it states.

The post Justice Department defends legitimacy of Habba appointment in new brief appeared first on New Jersey Globe.

One day after a New Jersey defendant filed a motion arguing that allowing acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba to prosecute his case would be a violation of his due process rights, the Justice Department has submitted a 28-page brief laying out why Habba’s appointment was made properly and should be allowed to stand.

The crux of the brief, written by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Coyne, is that President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi ultimately have final say over who gets to serve as acting U.S. Attorney – a power they used last week when they chose Habba in place of a career prosecutor appointed by New Jersey’s federal judges – and that disagreements over Habba’s appointment shouldn’t interfere with cases that her office is prosecuting.

“The President has made clear that he will not permit anyone other than Ms. Habba to fill the current vacancy in the office of the United States Attorney on a temporary basis,” states the brief, which was officially submitted by Habba, Bondi, and two other Justice Department officials. “That is his prerogative; this Court cannot second-guess it.”

The case is being overseen by Judge Matthew Brann of the Middle District of Pennsylvania; Brann received the assignment from the Third Circuit yesterday in place of Judge Edward Kiel of New Jersey, presumably to avoid any conflicts of interest given how closely entangled New Jersey’s District Court is with the dispute at hand. A status conference has been scheduled for today at 3 p.m.

Habba had been named by Trump as New Jersey’s interim U.S. Attorney in March, an appointment that came with a time limit of 120 days unless Habba could either win confirmation in the U.S. Senate or earn the support of a majority of New Jersey’s District Court judges. Habba’s nomination, submitted to the Senate on July 1, never moved forward, and federal judges voted last week to instead appoint First Assistant U.S. Attorney Desiree Grace, Habba’s deputy, as the new U.S. Attorney once Habba’s term expired on July 25.

The Trump administration pre-empted that, however, by firing Grace as First Assistant U.S. Attorney and replacing her with Habba, who then automatically ascended to the role of acting U.S. Attorney, thus extending her tenure. Habba’s Senate nomination was also withdrawn, since pending nominees cannot become acting U.S. Attorneys.

Grace tried to insist that the judges’ vote still stood and that she’d take office as U.S. Attorney at midnight on July 26, but to no avail. In its brief today, the Trump administration publicly confirmed for the first time that even if Grace had taken office, she would have been immediately removed by Trump anyways.

In a motion filed yesterday, attorney Thomas Mirigliano argued that by overriding the federal judges’ vote, and by choosing someone as acting U.S. Attorney who until recently had been a pending nominee in the Senate, Trump and Bondi had violated the law and the due process rights of his client, Julien Giraud Jr., who faces drug and weapons charges.

The motion asked either that Giraud’s indictment be dismissed or that Habba and her office be prevented from prosecuting him. Per the New York Times, federal court proceedings across New Jersey were quickly brought to a halt yesterday as prosecutors and judges wait to see whether Habba’s authority as acting U.S. Attorney is determined to be legitimate.

The arguments put forward by today’s Justice Department brief are twofold. First, the brief contends that nothing about Habba’s appointment was “irregular,” as Mirigliano had alleged; by resigning as interim U.S. Attorney and withdrawing her nomination from the Senate, it argues, Habba dutifully followed the requirements of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and was eligible to become acting U.S. Attorney.

“The Attorney General properly appointed her as the First Assistant United States Attorney; the First Assistant can serve as the Acting United States Attorney under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act when that office is vacant; and the President properly removed as United States Attorney an individual whom the District Court for the District of New Jersey purported to appoint,” it states.

(The brief also takes issue with the fact that the judges’ vote to appoint Grace happened several days before Habba’s tenure ended, and thus they had no actual vacancy to fill. The firing of Grace as First Assistant, and the appointment of Habba to replace her, all happened before the judges had any official authority to act, it argues.)

Secondly, the brief argues that regardless of the appointment dispute, Habba has also been appointed as a Special Attorney to the Attorney General with specific authority over the District of New Jersey, which gives her the legal authority to continue overseeing cases and nullifies Mirigliano’s argument that prosecutions coming from her and her office are illegitimate.

“Whether or not Ms. Habba technically qualifies as Acting United States Attorney, the Attorney General has validly delegated to her the authority to supervise all pending prosecutions and other matters in the USAO-NJ,” it states. “Similarly, the Assistant U.S. Attorneys assigned to those matters exercise the Attorney General’s delegated authority subject to her supervision. And there is no basis in any event to disqualify the entire USAO-NJ from those matters.”

Allowing any outcome other than Habba’s continued service as U.S. Attorney, the brief ultimately asserts, would be a violation of the separation of powers and an infringement on Trump’s and Bondi’s authority to appoint and fire prosecutors at their choosing.

“The real separation of powers violation in this case would be to force the President and Attorney General to permit a judicially appointed United States Attorney to remain in office despite their stated preference for someone else to lead that office,” it states.

The post Justice Department defends legitimacy of Habba appointment in legal filing appeared first on New Jersey Globe.