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Welcome back to New Jersey Power and Politics. As rising fatalities in ICE custody face scrutiny, the Department of Homeland Security says that it will no longer release certain data, says that it won't disclose when former detainees die within 30 days of release. DHS saying on social media ICE isn't responsible for those deaths. Well, after two weeks of intense protesting outside Delaney Hall, Newark will be scaling back its police presence. Mayor Ras Baraka saying that it should be up to the private company that runs the immigration jail to keep it secure. A lot's happened during this time. Baraka says arrests on a given night have gone from 80 to 3. He blames ICE for escalating tension on Memorial Day weekend. Also says state police called in by Governor Sherrill used similar tactics, but Baraka also acknowledged the outside agitators who came to Delaney to cause chaos. Meantime, members of New Jersey's congressional delegation have been visiting Delaney Hall to see if the claims of mistreatment inside are true. Democrats and advocates say detainees are facing unsanitary conditions, neglect, even abuse, something Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen and. House border czar Tom Holman vehemently denying. Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew toured the facility this week. He said this, quote, I saw good conditions, clean facilities, basic care, and a detention center where ICE and DHS are doing a hard job that keeps our communities safe. I'm joined now by Congressman Josh Gottheimer, who was among those to tour Delaney Hall this week. Congressman, two very different parts of this story. The components are the conditions inside and the chaos outside. Let's start with inside very quickly. I mean, we've heard from other members of the delegation, Senator Kim, Congresswoman Poe this week in a hearing about the conditions claiming multifo or even hearing about food with worms. In your tour, did you witness any of that and what did you see? I didn't see that, uh, you know, whether that's because it was cleaned up or, or for whatever reason. Um, but what I did see, you know, what struck me, Eric, was, uh, I met this young woman, 18 years old, who was still in high school, in her last months of high school, uh, who had been there for months, lives in Jersey, uh, in Orange, New Jersey, and, and believe it or not, uh, hasn't been able to take classes. She, she was an amazing young woman. She's actually translating for everybody in the facility, uh, and she's a dreamer, right? She came here as a young kid. She's grown up here in New Jersey, uh, and those are the stories. I met several people like that. It struck me and said, these are not violent felons or criminals. And why are they sitting here? Uh, and, and she, good news is we worked on this and uh we're able to get her out this week and she's back home with her family. Hopefully will graduate from high school this year. Uh, but, but I met a mechanic who owns his own shop. He's been sitting there for months. He's got a young family at home. Uh a lot of people. Who said they were self-reporting, that they had agreed to leave the country, and yet they were sitting there for weeks or months on end or were sick in a wheelchair, and there were a lot of people that just didn't make any sense to me of why they're being detained for months on end here. We've heard from numerous members of the delegation who say that there are people who they spoke to inside Delaney committed. They say committed no crime and have not been afforded due process yet. Of course you have Secretary Mullen this week he and DHS rattled off a list of detainees, including a couple more arrested just Wednesday with a history of violence or sex crimes against children and more. So by the way, and by the way, let me be very clear, yes, sex crimes, you're a violent criminal, you shouldn't be here. This country, uh, obviously, and, but, but, but that's the difference, right? I mean, OK, you've got a category of error and they shouldn't be here, um, but you've got other people like this young woman who the dreamer has been here all her life, lady and, and, and, and, um, and she just wants to go back to school. I talked to her, she wants to be a lawyer, uh, and she's an incredible, really impressive. And, and that's the kind of person we should want to be in our country, stay in our country. So I mean it begs the question because of course there are many who want to see this facility closed, but I mean we just spoke about some of the more criminal elements who are in the facility also. So is there a place for a facility like this, or do you also want to see it closed? Listen, I, I think there's a reality that I don't think this place like this are going to be closed. There's going to be detention centers. What I want to see is actually facilities that They should not. These are not long term facilities, right? So people shouldn't be there for months on end. I want to see processing much faster. Let's talk about the violence and the chaos that we've seen that's continuing to play out outside Delaney Hall. I mean there have been claims of mostly peaceful protests. We've seen how that goes before. The reality on the ground is anything but. The governor admitting. Earlier in the week that outside out of state agitators were fanning the flames and the violence. That curfew was put into effect, but then Mayor Ras Baraka actually took that down after a couple of days. I mean, so much of this does seem as though it's coming from out of state. It's well funded and it's well organized. Oh, that, that appears the governor pointed out to be exactly the case, which is why, you know, so when you have people coming in from out of state and they're organized in groups and they have one intent in mind which is to cause problems, they're not peacefully protesting, they're not holding up signs that say, you know, let, let, uh, let that young woman out, like holding up signs like that about peaceful things. Um, but show up with shields and with gas masks and, and helmets, and they have one intention which caused problems with Matas State, not Jersey. Congressman Josh Gottheimer, thanks a lot, Congressman. Appreciate your time. Thanks for having me, Eric. Take care. Meantime, Governor Sherrill announcing more state money for detainees at Delaney Hall to pay for lawyers. An additional $12 million is going to the New Jersey Detention Deportation Defense Initiative. It now totals $20 million. Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew criticizing that move, saying taxpayer money should be spent on New Jersey citizens instead, and Senate Minority Leader Anthony Bucco with a similar message to Governor Sherrill, saying, quote, We're told that there's not enough money for our schools as districts wage cuts to basic skills programs, sports, and student services, but there's $20 million available for projects like this. Now, stay with us. More to come here on New Jersey Power and Politics, including the Garden State, catching up on real IDs. The new changes allowing hundreds of thousands of them to be processed faster. That's next.

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Governor Sherrill is celebrating changes at your local MVC which are making it much easier for drivers to get a real ID. You need that new driver's license if you want to board a plane without a passport. News 12 New Jersey's Chris Keating has more on the announcement. In the last 4 months since Governor Sherrill took office and installed a new MVC commissioner, 300,000 real IDs have been processed. One of the main reasons for the progress is because drivers are now able to go to the MVC counter without paper to prove who you are and where you live, letting people provide proof of address electronically because so many of us don't get those paper envelopes anymore. It's all. Done online and yet we had nothing to show at the MVC when we wanted to prove our ID. In addition, 4 more MVC offices now have the ability to process real IDs, which has allowed for 16,000 more appointments per month, and wait times for appointments have dropped on average from 73 days to 40. Also, the number of people forced to make a second appointment has fallen by. When the changeover to Real ID started, New Jersey was 49th in the nation in terms of compliance, so Cheryl hired Rosalie Johnson as her new commissioner to change that. Airports demand real ID or a passport to get through TSA checkpoints, otherwise those travelers without are forced to pay a $45 fine to get through their gates. So far, 2.5 million New Jerseyans now have their real ID. Chris Keating, News 12, New Jersey. In just a few days, the World Cup kicks off. Thousands of fans from across the world are set to converge on MetLife Stadium, but for many New Jerseyans, the concern is getting around while the games are going on. NJ Transit president and CEO Chris Kalori says while the agency was tasked to come up with a plan to transport fans, it can always be adjusted if the demand is not met. We were asked to prepare to carry 40,000 people. We're prepared to do it. We will be prepared to do it for every game. If for some reason, people choose another mode of transportation and we don't carry that many people, so be it. It may mean that I can even open up Penn Station a little bit earlier so the commuters can get back on the trains and go home. So, I'm OK either way. Uh, we are pretty calm about this. What my focus has been is to make sure we're prepared. Often in the summer, high heat can cause Amtrak overhead wires to sag, which leads to rail delays. To see how Kalori plans to handle that and the rest of his contingency plan, you can go to Newstwelve.com. Or remember this, because on Tuesday you can speak with Chris Kalori and questions about your commute on the turnpike or on NJT. Is public transit taking a toll on your commute? You can ask Chris Kalori Tuesday at 6 right here on News 12. And that'll do it for this week. I'm Eric Lanzkronner. We thank you for watching New Jersey Power and Politics. We'll see you again next time.

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Director of the Rebovich Institute of Politics at Rider University Micah Rasmussen and Rep. Josh Gottheimer join the show this week.

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