Sherrill admin v. Trump admin (again)

Good morning!

New Jersey launched a new attack on Newark migrant jail Delaney Hall on Friday, saying it is investigating potential civil rights abuses at the detention center.

The probe comes months after the facility became the center of national controversy as the Trump administration ramps up its mass deportation effort and Delaney Hall inmates and their loved ones say conditions inside are inhumane. Private prison firm Geo Group owns and operates Delaney Hall.

“New Jersey has both a legal and a moral duty to stand up for the civil rights of people within our state,” New Jersey Attorney General Jen Davenport said. “For people who are held involuntarily, including by a private corporation like Geo Group, those rights include the right to humane treatment and adequate medical care.”

Meanwhile, state health officials say a third detainee connected to the facility died, though it declined to provide any more details. Rep. Rob Menendez said last week that a person taken into ICE custody was released after exhibiting serious health issues and then died soon after at a nearby hospital.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, said the civil rights investigation was necessary because of the stonewalling officials face at every turn.

“We’ve heard the reports of disturbing conditions and have been heartbroken by recent deaths of detainees at the facility. ICE and The Geo Group have continued to block our efforts for a full health inspection and there are now reports that visitations have been stopped,” she said in a statement.

Read more from Sophie Nieto-Muñoz.

Transit: Sherrill signed a bill into law Friday that makes counties eligible for a state transportation grant program if they provide seniors and disabled people with microtransit options. “For too many seniors and residents with disabilities, the biggest barrier isn’t whether transportation exists — it’s whether they can actually access it when they need it. This law gives counties another tool to bridge that gap,” bill sponsor Assemblyman Kenyatta Stewart told Lilo Stainton.

Jobs: Friday saw a grim jobs report that showed U.S. employers shed 23K jobs in July and revised downward prior job counts by 103K. “There’s no sugarcoating the overarching message in the July jobs report,” Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, wrote in a social media post. “The economy is struggling. Job growth is at a virtual standstill.”

ICE: Federal immigration agents are deploying new tactics, like arresting people at airports, to boost monthly ICE arrests to the highest levels seen under the Trump administration. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said it arrested about 51,000 immigrants in July, up from 43,000 in June and the highest number recorded by the Trump administration. The administration did not release state specific numbers.

Construction: A Highland Park councilman, the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters director, and the head of a construction firm wrote an opinion piece for the Bergen Record saying state regulations too often hamper construction: “The problem isn’t that New Jersey reviews projects. It’s that review has become an end in itself: process piled on process, agency after agency, lawsuit after lawsuit, year after year, until the things the rules were meant to deliver — affordable energy and affordable homes — never come to fruition.”