Republicans control the White House and Congress and conservatives dominate the Supreme Court, making it virtually impossible for Democrats to fight President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement agenda. Some, though, are finding ways to push back.
In a letter to the New Jersey State Investment Council, Rep. Rob Menendez (D-8th) urged state pension fund managers to divest over $130 million worth of holdings in Palantir Technologies Inc., one of the world’s biggest tech companies and one with deep ties to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies.
Menendez sat down with NJ Spotlight News to discuss a host of immigration-related issues, both in the Garden State and nationwide. This interview has been lightly edited.
Joanna Gagis, anchor: You’ve called for divestment from Palantir Technologies. Why is this the right move for New Jersey?
Rob Menendez: Because one is, it’s a misalignment between our investment decisions on behalf of retirees and the values of our state. We’ve seen what Palantir has done, contracting with ICE, the Department of Homeland Security, giving them technology to do what you’re seeing from Minneapolis to New Jersey, terrorizing our communities, separating families. And we don’t think that the state should continue to hold its investment in Palantir or any other company that’s doing similar work with ICE and DHS.
JG: It’s a $30 million contract, right, for this operating system that provides “near real-time visibility” into immigration lifecycles. What does that even mean?
RM: So it basically helps ICE and gives them sort of a modern way of doing immigration enforcement that takes all this different data, which we no longer have siloed in the administration. They’ve broken it loose, which is a separate problem. But they now have a vast trove of data that they can use to plug into this system, which gives them greater ability and likelihood that they are going to be able to find people who may be here on an undocumented basis.
Now, you have to couple this with ICE’s own data, which shows that they’re not detaining people who have criminal records. Because on the campaign trail, you heard Trump was going to go after violent criminals. When I go to Delaney Hall, I meet with mothers who have U.S. citizen children. I meet with fathers who are small business owners with no criminal records. So what they are doing is going after people who have perhaps civil immigration violations, but who are not criminals. They are not taking criminals off our street — they’re using this to go after people who, on average, have been here 15 or more years.
JG: I want to get your reaction to what happened in Newark yesterday. There was this high-speed chase which ended in a crash, and three children were injured. Do you hold ICE agents responsible for that crash or the individual who was fleeing, driving that van recklessly through the streets of Newark?
RM: So look at what law enforcement would do here in the state of New Jersey, right? They would not pursue someone, especially in a place like Newark, because there are dangers in doing that. So it’s a problem with ICE — it’s not real law enforcement.
You have people who are not being trained properly. You have people who are being trained for 47 days who are going out into our communities masked, heavily armed. I do think it’s ICE’s responsibility. They should be held accountable, not just on this one instance, which was terrible, but on so many things where they are causing harm and fear in all of our communities. They can’t come into our communities and cause more harm to people who are bystanders, who are casualties, who are being harmed and they’re not even the target of the immigration enforcement.
JG: You, early on when we saw some of these ICE practices rolling out, were calling for reform of ICE. Are you at a point that you would like to see ICE abolished?
RM: We don’t believe that ICE can continue to exist and that it needs to be abolished.
This is the way I describe it to people: Imagine a year from now, someone in Minneapolis or here in Newark heard that ICE was in the community. You would have families who wouldn’t leave their homes. You would have children who would be afraid to leave school. ICE has done an irreparable amount of damage, not just to the agency, but to DHS writ large. It’s not something that can be reformed.
There are going to be ways that we can do immigration enforcement — we did it before ICE existed and we can do it again. But seeing this be turned into a paramilitary — killing Americans in broad daylight — this can no longer continue to exist. So we’ve called for ICE to be abolished and that’s we believe that’s the right position to take, not just for us here in a heavily immigrant-based district, but for all Americans. There’s other ways that we can do immigration enforcement.
JG: Is there any movement in Congress towards any kind of meaningful immigration reform?
RM: Clearly the Trump administration has taken advantage of a broken immigration system. And that’s something that I see every day in the work that we do through our district office or when I visit one of the two privately run detention centers. Democrats have a whole suite of options that are available at any time. Republicans in the administration need to come to the table and work with us so we can stop the harm that’s going on throughout the country, so people who are positively contributing to not just our economy, but to our communities, have a protected status here and for many have a pathway to citizenship.
JG: You have made many oversight visits to Delaney Hall in Newark. What are your thoughts on ICE purchasing a new facility in Roxbury, a warehouse as we understand it, although it’s not finalized and likely to end up in the courts. What are your thoughts, if they are able to finalize that purchase and turn it into a detention facility?
RM: We’re completely against the Roxbury facility. We’ve been against the Elizabeth detention center and privately run detention centers since we came to Congress, which predates the Trump administration. There’s no need for a 1,500-person processing center here in the state.
Delaney Hall is a 10-year, over $1 billion contract with the Geo Group. It’s ICE’s own data about who’s being detained. You have nonviolent individuals, non-criminals there. We’re not even in through year two of a 10-year contract for Delaney Hall.
So what does that mean? The Trump administration is trying to create a larger undocumented population. How? They’re letting Temporary Protected Status lapse for Venezuelans, for Haitians. They are undoing the parole program that other administrations have used. They’re also trying to undo birthright citizenship. So there would be children in this country who are U.S. citizens today who would have no country of origin.
This is a Stephen Miller plan to fundamentally change the fabric of America. That’s not who we are. And anything that furthers that should be opposed, and we should all work to stop it from having it happen.
JG: Do you think that these are issues that will impact the outcome of the midterm elections and how do you believe Democrats need to move forward to take back control of Congress?
RM: There’s two major things in a district like this — affordability and immigration — that you see every single day. For the vast majority of Americans, affordability is the No. 1 issue. Economic issues, our kitchen table issues are front and center.
JG: Even though the president painted a picture of the golden age of America during his State of the Union address?
RM: When my wife and I talk, she tells me I can’t tell her how she feels. And you can’t tell the American people how they feel.
The American people feel like they’re underwater. They feel like the the president is not doing things to improve their lives. Tariffs are driving up the cost for all Americans. People don’t feel better off a year-plus into the Trump administration than they did before.
The cost of living continues to rise. And he said he was going to take on these challenges day one of his administration. He’s failed to do so. Instead, they’re cutting $1 trillion for Medicaid. Instead, they’re giving tax breaks to the top 1%. So they are not doing things that are going to help the majority of New Jerseyans. And that, ultimately, is why you’re seeing the president underwater in all polling.
