Movimiento Cosecha NJ Delivers Letter Signed By 40 Organizations Demanding That The Edison Town Council Take Action to Protect Asylum-Seekers

On behalf of forty immigrant-led, faith-based, and community organizations in NJ, representatives from Movimiento Cosecha and Unidad Latina en Acción delivered a letter to the Edison town council on Thursday, January 18th, demanding that the council take action to ensure the safety of asylum seekers in Edison, and asking that Mayor Joshi apologize for his xenophobic rhetoric.

Representatives from many of these organizations were present at the January 4th town council meeting, in which several council members floated the idea of creating a subcommittee to protect the rights of immigrants and refugees who travel through or move to Edison. This letter requests that they follow up on that proposal.

While the mayor’s office declined to accept the letter, the clerk’s office pledged to deliver it to the mayor and members of the council.

In the letter, these organizations write that

“We continue to urge Mayor Joshi to issue a statement of apology to New Jersey’s vital and substantial immigrant communities, and we call upon the council to establish a subcommittee dedicated to creating a plan to securely receive future asylum seekers including but not limited to securing food, clothing distribution and assurances that no sensitive information collected is shared with ICE.”

The full letter and list of signatories can be viewed here.