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New Jersey released 2,200 inmates and 50 juveniles from state prisons Wednesday due to the COVID-19 threat. But 95 of those former prisoners were immediately picked up again by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Corrections officers hand immigrants to ICE if they are convicted or charged with a serious crime or have a pending deportation order, according to the state attorney general’s office. The state department of corrections said those guidelines were followed Wednesday. Around another 100 of those people released were also detained by other law enforcement agencies. nj.com
In other local immigration news…
First South Asian New Yorkers Elected to State Assembly
The New York state assembly now has two South Asian assemblymembers, a first in the state’s history. Zohran Mamdani and Jenifer Rajkumar are both Democrats from Queens and handily won their respective elections this week. Mamdani, who will represent Astoria, won 72 percent and Rajkumar, who will represent Woodhaven and Glendale, won 66 percent. Mamdani is an immigrant and Rajkumar is the daughter of immigrants. Mamdani is a progressive candidate endorsed by Bernie Sanders and the Democratic Socialists of America. Rajkumar previously served as Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s director of immigration affairs. New York City is home to more than 300,000 people of South Asian descent. NBC News
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