New Jersey Coalition Calls on NJ Officials to Stand With Immigrant Communities, Will Map Bias Incidents Using Election Monitoring Technology Developed in Kenya

On Thursday morning, leadership and staff of dozens of statewide and local organizations in New Jersey delivered a letter (here) asking NJ officials to publicly stand with immigrant communities and communities of color, and to disclose their plans to protect these communities from intimidation and violence around the 2020 election. In response to the concerns the letter raises, the New Jersey Consortium for Immigrant Children today launched Safe NJ and the Bias Incident Text Hotline, reachable at 908-402-3916. The initiative will use a technology originally developed for election monitoring in Kenya to track and map bias incidents in NJ through the inauguration and beyond. Safe NJ and the Bias Incident Text Hotline are a safe option for people from marginalized communities, including immigrants, who do not feel comfortable reporting bias incidents to the government or simply do not know where to turn.

The NJ Consortium for Immigrant Children is a coalition of community members and immigration legal services providers who work with children and youth, the group most affected by the recent increase in bias incidents in New Jersey.