FLEMINGTON - Democrats throughout the state and country are condemning ICE for rounding up and detaining people who have committed no serious crimes. Some have worked in the U.S. for years.

Two New Jersey Democrats with personal scars from the ongoing immigration battle - LaMonica McIver, the congresswoman from CD-10, and Ras Baraka, the mayor of Newark - were in this Hunterdon County town Tuesday night for a town hall meeting sponsored by the countywide NAACP.

McIver was arrested and subsequently indicted for allegedly interfering with federal officers. The charges are pending. Baraka was previously arrested, but the charges were quickly dropped. This revolved around their visit to an ICE detention center in Newark.

Hunterdon County may seem like an odd venue for the NAACP. The county's Black population is less than 3 percent.

Larry Hamm, of the People’s Organization For Progress, and the moderator for the program, joked that while driving to Hunterdon from Newark he thought he was entering Pennsylvania.

Nonetheless, a very diverse crowd of about 250 or so people attended the town hall at a local Presbyterian Church. The audience was split between the un-air conditioned church sanctuary and an adjoining room that offered central air. Here the audience watched on video.

McIver, who was recently elected to the House after the death of Donald Payne, was blunt and to the point.

She said ICE agents act as if they are the "personal attackers" and "personal security team" of Donald Trump.

Witnessing how they go about their business, McIver said, "They look to see how cruel they can be."

Race - and this was a NAACP event - was not forgotten. McIver said so many of those targeted by ICE are minorities while in contrast, the Trump Administration recently welcomed to the country white immigrants from South Africa.

Other speakers echoed these thoughts.

Baraka, who finished second to Mikie Sherrill in the June gubernatorial primary, said the Trump Administration is seeking to bring the country back to a time when ones who got ahead had to be, "white, male and protestant."

It sounded as if Baraka was still campaigning for the party's left wing base. To which he said, "I'm always running."

Speaking of running, while there was talk of organizing and working hard for the 2026 midterms, there was, surprisingly,  no mention of this year's governor's race.

Asked about it afterwards, McIver said, "We (referring to her district) are working hard to elect a Democratic governor," adding that she is "super supportive" of Sherrill, her congressional colleague.

Also speaking was Vernon Williams, who is running for the Hunterdon Central Board of Education. Some school boards have become battlegrounds of late over books and curriculum in general. And Williams' appeal was that he wants to make sure his local school district is not overwhelmed by right wingers.

Baraka saw something here that went a bit deeper than just a guy running for the BOE.

He said of the Trump Administration and its policies:

"I think it's causing folks to have a little bit of a political education.":

And if that education prompts people to get involved politically, or even to run for office, so much the better.

Hamm, whose animated style may be a rarity in Hunterdon County, did his best to rouse up the crowd by speaking about the end-of-the-month anniversary (the 62nd)  of Martin Luther King's "I have a dream " speech in Washington.

And it worked.

The program ended with Hamm encouraging and leading the crowd in a chant of "Power to the People."