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cory booker
Newark Mayor Decries 'Egregious' Warrantless ICE Raid
"Newark will not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorized," Mayor Ras Baraka said.
Jan 24, 2025
Federal agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement carried out a warrantless raid on Thursday targeting a local establishment in Newark, New Jersey, according to Newark Mayor Ras Baraka—who decried the move as an "an egregious act" in violation of the of the U.S. constitution.
Federal agents detained both undocumented residents and citizens, including a U.S. military veteran, Baraka said in a statement Thursday.
The local outlet PIX11reported that ICE agents targeted the Ocean Seafood Depot, a wholesale seafood distributor. Store owner Luis Janota told the outlet that three people were taken into custody, including a Puerto Rican employee who is a military veteran. People from Puerto Rico have U.S. citizenship.
"We don't fret, we fight," wrote the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, which is distributing materials to inform community members about their rights.
Immigration raids on so-called "sanctuary cities"—a list that includes Newark—were expected. On Monday, Trump issued executive orders ramping up immigration enforcement via executive orders, including attempting to end birthright citizenship, reinstating his "Remain in Mexico" policy, suspending refugee resettlement, and moving to restrict federal funds for sanctuary cities.
Trump's deputy acting attorney general sent a memo to Justice Department staff this week indicating that state and local officials could potentially be criminally prosecuted for failing to cooperate with Trump's ramped up immigration enforcement, and the Trump administration has also revoked a directive barring arrests in "sensitive" locations, such as schools.
The changes to immigration enforcement have already been met with hurdles. On Thursday a federal judge temporarily blocked his challenge to birthright citizenship, calling it "blatantly unconstitutional."
"Newark will not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorized. I will be holding a press conference in alliance with partners ready and willing to defend and protect civil and human rights," Baraka said Thursday.
U.S. Sens. Andy Kim and Cory Booker, both New Jersey Democrats, said they were concerned about the news and that their offices had reached out to the Department of Homeland Security "to demand answers."
Following the incident, ICE issued the following statement to multiple news outlets: "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement may encounter U.S. citizens while conducting field work and may request identification to establish an individual's identity as was the case during a targeted enforcement operation at a worksite today in Newark, New Jersey."
On X, ICE posted on Thursday that it had arrested 538 people and detained 373 others, though it's not clear from the post where those arrests and detentions took place.
"A reminder these raids and attacks on the Constitution are an attack on all of us—not just immigrants, not just their families, everyone. You, your neighbors, your colleagues—you're not safe just because you're a citizen, a legal resident, a veteran," wrote Peter Chen, an analyst at the think tank New Jersey Policy Perspective.
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Progressives Fume as Democrats Fold in Face of Trump's 'Corporate-Owned Cabinet'
"Defeating the MAGA movement does not require clever theories, it requires the hard work of opposition on behalf of the millions who will suffer at the hands of Trump's corporate Cabinet."
Jan 13, 2025
The government watchdog group Revolving Door Project on Monday denounced Democratic lawmakers for the "perfunctory resistance" with which they appear to be preparing for confirmation hearings on President-elect Donald Trump's nominees to lead federal agencies, saying some in the party's upper ranks appear willing to allow far-right appointees to sail to top government positions without facing a true opposition party.
As Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) toldNOTUS on Monday, some of Trump's nominees are "objectionable," but others "are going to get bipartisan support."
Jeff Hauser, executive director of Revolving Door Project (RDP), acknowledged that with Republicans now holding 53 seats in the Senate and the Democratic Party holding 45, "Democrats do not have the votes to kill any of these nominations."
"But they do have the ability to begin drawing attention to the cronyism that will inevitably appear from within the Trump administration. Contrary to the party's current position, being able to say 'I told you so' is helpful to future success," said Hauser.
Democrats aren't ensuring they'll have the ability to say that, Hauser warned, as they signal little resistance "to the few Trump nominees so brazenly offputting that they draw nearly uniform skepticism."
"For all the Trump nominees not accused of killing a dog or committing heinous crimes, Democrats do not seem poised to offer even a whisper of resistance, no matter how unqualified," said Hauser.
"Democrats must find their inner populists and fight at all times, even in battles that they will almost certainly lose."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) held a meeting Monday with Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee to discuss the upcoming questioning of defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth this week, saying his upcoming confirmation hearing on Tuesday will provide the party an opportunity to attack the GOP's "brand." Hegseth has been accused of sexual assault, which he has denied.
But the party has not called attention to problems with nominees like Scott Bessent, Trump's treasury secretary nominee, or Chris Wright, the fracking CEO who has denied the climate emergency and whom Trump picked to run the Department of Energy (DOE).
"Senate Democrats have failed to question how Scott Bessent's experience of running a second-tier hedge fund with declining assets under management qualifies him to hold one of the most powerful economic policymaking in the world," said Hauser. "Or how Chris Wright's experience as an unhinged plutocrat out of touch with scientific reality would qualify him to manage some of the world's most important laboratories."
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) told NOTUS that Democrats are prepared to use the confirmation hearings to answer the question: "Are they fighting for Americans, or are they going to fight for the kind of cronyism politics that's really hurt this place?"
"I want to support nominees that are going to really fight for the American people, not fight for special interests, not fight for rich people, not fight to take away our freedoms," he told NOTUS.
But with nominees like hedge fund manager Bessent, former corporate lobbyist Pam Bondi for attorney general, cryptocurrency promoter Howard Lutnick for commerce secretary, and Medicare Advantage proponent Mehmet Oz to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Hauser said Democrats shouldn't act as though the nominees' conflicts of interest and loyalty to the wealthy are a question.
"Every senior Trump administration official will have the discretion to exercise presidential authority on behalf of corporate interests in ways that will hurt ordinary Americans. Workers, consumers, breathers of air—every typical American is at risk from the most corporate captured set of nominees in American history," said Hauser. "Democrats should be telling this story now, not only to raise alarms ahead of the inauguration, but to be able to tell a compelling story about what went wrong and why when things inevitably decline across so many critical fronts in the next few years."
Instead, Booker told NOTUS that the party is "not looking to make this partisanship or tribalism."
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), for his part, met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago and told NOTUS his plan going into confirmation hearings is "to listen." He has expressed support for secretary of state nominee Marco Rubioubio, United Nations ambassador nominee Elisa StefanikStefanik, and transportation secretary nominee Sean Duffy.
"Senate Democrats are seeking strategic retreat wherever possible, convinced that 'opposition' is a bad strategy for the opposition party," Hauser warned.
In a post at RDP's Substack newsletter, research assistant KJ Boyle wrote that the problem with Booker and Fetterman's approach "is that Trump's picks are partisan, chosen for their loyalty both to him and the moneyed interests they'll ostensibly be tasked with overseeing. Now is not the time to sit back and listen. It's time to make a big stink about how unqualified and dangerous these nominees are, and explain how that will translate to real world consequences that harm everyday people."
The group plans to release suggested questions for Democrats to ask at each of the confirmation hearings in the coming days; Boyle started with Wright, interior secretary nominee Doug Burgum, and Office of Management and Budget director nominee Russell Vought.
He suggested senators ask Wright about his former company, trade association Western Energy Alliance, and its public comment opposing energy efficiency standards for gas stoves.
"The public comment erroneously claimed the DOE's rule was 'intended to ban new gas stoves and compel a transition to electric,' rather than a commonsense rule to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and save consumers money," Boyle wrote in a suggested question. "Moreover, are you aware that approximately 13% of childhood asthma cases can be attributed to nitrogen dioxide exposure from gas stoves? Do you believe the federal government has no role in protecting our children from exposure to these hazardous airborne pollutants?"
Boyle suggested senators ask Vought about his record of budget cuts that have harmed low-income families, and ask Burgum why he opposed a rule requiring coal plants to reduce mercury emissions, which are linked to heart attacks, cancer, and developmental delays in children.
"Why do you think that the coal industry should be given handouts and allowed to make people sick?" Boyle suggested senators ask.
Hauser said that Democrats' electoral defeat in November has left them "doubling down on an ostrich-like strategy of hiding their heads until Donald Trump goes away."
"But the MAGA movement will not go away on its own, it will have to be defeated," he said. "Defeating the MAGA movement does not require clever theories, it requires the hard work of opposition on behalf of the millions who will suffer at the hands of Trump's corporate Cabinet. Democrats must find their inner populists and fight at all times, even in battles that they will almost certainly lose."
"There is never a better opportunity to find an opposition's voice," he said, "than when a would-be populist president appoints a corporate-owned Cabinet."
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As Biden Plans to Reschedule Marijuana, Advocates Say 'Fully Legalize' It
Sen. Cory Booker urged fellow lawmakers to "follow the lead of states around the country and legalize cannabis for adult use and create a comprehensive taxation and regulatory scheme."
Apr 30, 2024
U.S. marijuana legalization advocates greeted Tuesday's news that the Drug Enforcement Administration is proposing rescheduling cannabis to a less restrictive class by calling on President Joe Biden to fully deschedule the plant, which is approved for recreational or medicinal use in the vast majority of states.
The Associated Pressreported the DEA is proposing rescheduling marijuana from Schedule I—which includes heroin, MDMA, and LSD—to Schedule III, a far less restrictive class that includes ketamine, anabolic steroids, testosterone, and over-the-counter products containing less than 90 milligrams of codeine per dose. According to the DEA, Schedule I drugs have "no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse."
While it would not legalize cannabis for recreational use, the DEA proposal—which is subject to review by the White House Office of Management and Budget—would affirm medicinal marijuana and recognize that the plant has a lower potential for abuse than other widely used recreational drugs.
The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA)—which works to end the failed 53-year War on Drugs—warned that "under this proposed shift, marijuana criminalization would continue at the federal level and most penalties, including those for simple possession, would continue as long as marijuana remains anywhere on the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)."
While running for president in 2020, Biden repeatedly vowed to decriminalize marijuana and expunge the criminal records of people convicted of cannabis possession. In 2022 the president issued a "full, complete, and unconditional pardon to all current United States citizens and lawful permanent residents" convicted of simple federal marijuana possession—a move that affected thousands of people but excluded those who are in the United States without authorization.
The following year, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra confirmed that his department would recommend rescheduling cannabis to Schedule III.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) on Tuesday urged Congress to "follow the lead of states around the country and legalize cannabis for adult use and create a comprehensive taxation and regulatory scheme."
"Thousands of people remain in prisons around the country for marijuana-related crimes. Thousands of people continue to bear the devastating collateral consequences that come with a criminal record," the senator continued. "Legal marijuana businesses, especially those in communities hardest hit by the War on Drugs, still have to navigate a convoluted patchwork of state laws and regulatory schemes."
"I hope that my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, especially those who represent constituents benefiting from medical or adult-use programs, join me to pass federal legislation to fix these problems," Booker added.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that "it is great news that DEA is finally recognizing that restrictive and draconian cannabis laws need to change to catch up to what science and the majority of Americans have said loud and clear."
"While this rescheduling announcement is a historic step forward, I remain strongly committed to continuing to work on legislation like the SAFER Banking Act as well as the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, which federally deschedules cannabis by removing it from the Controlled Substances Act," he added.
Booker and Schumer were among the 21 senators who last week sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and DEA Administrator Anne Milgram noting that it's been 18 months since Biden ordered HHS October to review cannabis scheduling and eight months since the agency's rescheduling recommendation.
"While we understand that the DEA may be navigating internal disagreement on this matter, it is critical that the agency swiftly correct marijuana's misguided placement in Schedule I," the letter states.
Legalization advocates, meanwhile, pushed the Biden administration to go much further, as 24 states plus the District of Columbia have approved adult-use recreational marijuana and 38 states have legalized medicinal cannabis.
"Supporting federal marijuana decriminalization means supporting the removal of marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, not changing its scheduling," DPA director of drug markets and legal regulation Cat Packer said in a statement. "We all deserve a federal framework for marijuana that upholds the health, well-being, and safety of our communities—particularly Black communities who have borne the brunt of our country's racist enforcement of marijuana laws."
"Rescheduling marijuana is not a policy solution for federal marijuana criminalization or its harms, and it won't address the disproportionate impact that it has had on Black and Brown communities," Packer added.
Dasheeda Dawson, chair of the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition and founder of Cannabis NYC, said: "The time for descheduling cannabis is not just a matter of policy; it's an imperative for justice and equity. Rescheduling would undermine the hard-fought progress made by cannabis equity and policy reform leaders like the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition, jeopardizing the livelihoods and futures of those entrepreneurs and communities disproportionately affected by past criminalization."
"We cannot afford to backtrack on our commitment to repair the harm inflicted by outdated policies," Dawson added. "Descheduling is not just about legality; it's about rectifying historic injustices and ensuring a fair and inclusive future for all."
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