From NJPBS studios, this is NJ Spotlight News.

- Hello, and thanks for joining us.

I'm Joanna Gagis.

Brianna Vannozzi is away.

A few stories we'll get into later in the broadcast.

Senator Andy Kim joins us for his take on President Trump's State of the Union address and ICE's expansion into New Jersey.

Then Roxbury residents and advocates speak out about the warehouse that ICE purchased to convert into a detention center.

We'll hear from them.

And later, e-books are in high demand, but hear what local libraries are saying about the true cost of digital books.

The numbers may surprise you.

But first, a few of today's top headlines.

New Jersey's stance on ICE is facing blowback from the Trump administration.

This week, the Department of Justice sued the state and Governor Mikie Sherrill over her recent executive order that bars the federal government from using state property for any immigration enforcement action without a judicial warrant.

Now the DOJ says the order interferes with the Fed's ability to enforce immigration laws.

In a statement, U.S.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said, quote, "Federal agents are risking their lives to keep New Jersey's citizens safe, and yet New Jersey's leaders are enacting policies designed to obstruct and endanger law enforcement," adding that New Jersey's sanctuary policies will not stand.

Jennifer Davenport was confirmed by the Senate as New Jersey's Attorney General.

She said in a statement, "The Trump administration is wasting its resources on pointless legal challenges.

We look forward to defending this executive order in court."

And it's the end of the road for a coalition of towns who've been fighting New Jersey's affordable housing law.

conservative U.S.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito denied an emergency request from about three dozen towns to hold off on a March 15th deadline to comply with the law.

The group, called Local Leaders for Responsible Planning, filed the emergency application with the Supreme Court in a final effort to fight the law, which requires towns to build their fair share of affordable housing units.

The deadline the towns were fighting was the date by which all municipalities in the state must rezone for high-density housing.

This coalition is led by Montvale and is made up of mostly wealthy suburban towns with both Democratic and Republican leadership.

They've argued the law is unfair and puts a higher burden on suburban municipalities as compared to cities.

Their lawsuit was dismissed by a Superior Court judge in October, leading their suit to federal court, where it was rejected in January, and then again by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month.

They hung their hopes on Jersey native Justice Alito, who did not give them the answer they were hoping for.

Fair Share Housing Center says the majority of towns in New Jersey have already complied with the law and are working on plans to build more affordable housing units.

Close to a thousand workers are back on the job today at Gateway Tunnel construction sites.

They're back to work for the first time in nearly three weeks now that the federal funding for the $16 billion project began flowing again.

Their first job?

Start clearing off the snow that's accumulated on the construction sites after the recent blizzard.

Work will then turn to projects including assembling the massive tunnel boring machine that will actually excavate the ground under the Hudson River to make way for the new train tubes.

Construction on the Gateway Project resumed after New Jersey and New York sued the Trump administration and a judge ordered more than $200 million to be released.

The Gateway Development Commission, which oversees the project, has also filed suit against the Trump administration for breach of contract.

Both lawsuits are still working through the courts, but commission officials say they still need to secure every federal dollar to keep construction moving forward and to avoid more delays.

And while work has begun again, additional contracts need to be confirmed, but the commission says those will remain on hold until they have access to the full $15 billion balance.

Coming up, we talk with U.S.

Senator Andy Kim on his reaction to President Trump's State of the Union address.

That's next.

Major funding for NJ Spotlight News is provided in part by NJM Insurance Group, serving the insurance needs of residents and businesses for more than 100 years.

On Tuesday night, President Donald Trump issued the first State of the Union address of his second term as president.

In the longest State of the Union speech in modern history, close to two hours, the president painted the picture of an America that's thriving economically, with lower energy costs, revitalized cities, and one that's safer today than it was a year ago because of his immigration policies.

He also called on Congress to pass the Save America Act that would require proof of citizenship and make a number of other changes to the voting process across the country.

President Trump took the opportunity to call out Democrats throughout the speech, particularly at a moment when he asked all members of Congress to rise if they agreed that "the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens."

Democrats did not rise, while Republicans applauded for nearly a minute.

It was one of several moments that showed the deep divide between the parties.

Here's a portion of the president's speech.

Members of Congress and my fellow Americans.

Our nation is back, bigger, better, richer, and stronger than ever before.

(applause) Less than five months from now, our country will celebrate an epic milestone in American history -- the 250th anniversary of our glorious American independence.

This July 4th we will mark two and a half centuries of liberty and triumph, progress and freedom in the most incredible and exceptional nation ever to exist on the face of the earth.

You've seen nothing yet.

We're going to do better and better and better.

This is the golden age of America.

While some Democrats chose not to attend the State of the Union at all, while others were removed from the chamber due to outbursts during the speech.

U.S.

Senator Andy Kim was there and he joins us now with his reaction to what he saw and heard.

Senator, thank you so much for taking a few minutes to talk with us.

I want to ask, how do you react to President Trump saying that this is the golden age of America and the safest our country has been?

Well, his speech is delusional.

It's so out of touch with what the American people are actually feeling.

You know, I did a town hall in Asbury Park a couple days ago.

And when I asked people what the State of the Union they think is, and they would use words like unaffordable and chaos, you know, the fact that, as you pointed out, Trump spoke for nearly two hours.

He spent less than three minutes talking about affordability, less than four minutes talking about health care.

He's not focused on the issues that people really care about.

Instead, he's going on these tirades about democracy protection.

But he's not trying to protect it.

He's trying to subvert it.

He's trying to sow disinformation into the minds of the American people with his lies.

And just to be there in the chamber and to see just how rabid his supporters are about the lies that he's saying very much worried me about the state of our democracy in our country right now.

You mentioned health care and I just have to ask the president did say that he had laid out a health plan that would be better than what we colloquially call Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act.

And have you heard any specifics of a plan that would replace or improve upon the ACA?

Zero.

And the president has said that in the past that they don't have a plan yet.

You know this has been just something that they have been gutting and kneecapping.

You know their plan was to gut Medicaid as they successfully did last year that's going to hurt millions of Americans.

Their plan is to take away the support and the subsidies for the Affordable Care Act that millions of Americans depend on.

We already saw over a million less people on the marketplace this year.

We're already seeing many, many Americans suffering and struggling.

I heard from a number that attended yesterday that talked about how their premiums have gone up two, three, four fold.

That's their plan.

That's what they're enacting.

And that's something that's hurting so many people.

And it's why the American people are furious at Trump right now.

He can go on and on and throw red meat to his base.

But the vast, vast, vast majority of Americans disapprove of what this president is doing.

He referenced polling that says that he's actually polling very well.

I know.

He can just keep making things up.

I mean, you know, he just you know, but it doesn't make it true.

I have to ask you, you know, he says that America is finally respected all over the world.

It's something we hear kind of the ping pong ball of which, you know, which party is in power says we're finally respected.

You say not so.

In fact, you said we're no longer seen as the indispensable nation.

We're seen as the unreliable nation.

Explain your thoughts and whose reality is real.

Yeah, that's right.

I mean, look, I talked—I was at the Munich Security Conference about a week ago and talked with a number of world leaders, including leaders of our allied nations, and every single one of them told me that they can't even comprehend what is happening to America right now, that especially after Trump's, you know, threats of military action against Greenland, that they have moved on.

They have just seen this as a threshold that we have broken through, and they cannot trust us.

And it's not just about Trump anymore.

They just don't trust our system of governance anymore.

So this is something that's going to leave us weaker, leave us poorer, and something that is a direct result of Trump alienating the rest of the world, turning our backs, not even just turning our backs, but actively attacking our allies and our partners.

And who is that boosting?

It's just boosting Russia.

It's boosting China, our competitors and our adversaries.

So this is a situation, as I've worked in national security my whole career, I find it to be appalling how we have just shot ourselves in the foot and abdicated our title as a leader of the free world.

Senator, one of the deepest divides in America right now is the way that ICE and immigration enforcement is being carried out.

Democrats did not rise when the president asked who agrees that the first priority is to serve the American American citizens rather than, as he says, illegal aliens.

Did you rise?

I'm not going to ask you to speak on behalf of your entire party, but how did you see that moment and how did you respond?

I am not a prop to Donald Trump.

When he is saying that without taking any accountability that ICE and CBP killed American citizens in Minnesota, not once did he mention Alex Preti, not once did he mention Rene Good, the fact that they are continuing to deny any accountability with the deaths of Americans.

So when he goes up and tries to make this to play along to that game, his administration is directly responsible for the deaths of American citizens, and they should be held to account, and they shouldn't be able to pretend like that didn't happen, and that he can just use this performance to cover it up, which is exactly what they're doing.

They're doing a cover-up about those killings.

I have to ask you, you recently got involved in what's happening with ICE in Roxbury, the purchase of a facility, a warehouse, from Dauphin Industrial, a company there in the township.

The Republican-led council, town council, does not want to see this, tried to pass an ordinance to block it.

I know you met with local and state officials this weekend.

What did you talk about?

What are they hoping they can still do to block the purchase of this warehouse to be used as a detention facility?

As you pointed out, this is a Republican-led town that voted for Trump, and even they are saying this is not something we want to see here.

Nobody wants this detention facility in Roxbury.

We don't want it anywhere in New Jersey.

We are seeing just the problems there.

Not only is it just that ICE is trying to ram this down the throats of the folks in Roxbury, but they're doing it without even talking to them.

I mean, the administration put forward letters saying that they've done surveys and assessments about sewage and water and feasibility.

They've done none of that.

They're just literally lying to us that they have done this.

So I'm demanding, well, if you said you did these studies, well, show it to me.

You know, show it to the people in Roxbury, because they have not once called to inquire about the issues and the challenges of logistics.

This is something that's going to have a huge and immediate impact, not only on Roxbury, but the surrounding communities.

So people are furious, and not just the fact that they're doing this, but the fact that they have not engaged the locals at all.

The level of disrespect coming out is just palpable.

And they're not just doing it here in New Jersey, they're doing it all over the country.

I talked to Republican senators this week where this administration is trying to push this in their states too, and they can't stand how this is happening.

Do you believe that Republicans in Congress, including Congressman Tom Kaine Jr., who does represent Roxbury as part of his district, do you believe that Republicans should be need to do more to, one, represent the folks who they were elected by, and two, to push back against ICE and this administration.

Look, they should, but I don't have confidence in Tom Kane taking up this.

I mean, this is something where we put forward a letter to the administration trying to halt this, and he refused to sign on.

You know, just the -- I'm hearing left and right.

What you saw in the State of the Union yesterday, just the Republicans in Congress continuing to just back this president for whatever he's doing.

It's not the right approach and it's certainly not serving our constituents.

All right, U.S.

Senator Andy Kim, we have to leave it there, but thank you for your time today.

Thank you.

Meanwhile, last night, a group of about 100 gathered in the small township of Roxbury to rail against ICE's purchase of that warehouse on Route 46.

Both community and town council members shared concerns over an immigration detention facility coming to the town, including the lack of infrastructure there to support it.

Raven Santana was at the council meeting and has more.

They don't care about you or us and they will do whatever the hell they want.

An overflow room was needed for more than 100 residents and advocates who gathered inside Roxbury Town Hall to condemn Immigration and Customs Enforcement's purchase of a vacant warehouse in Roxbury that it plans to convert into an immigration detention center.

Residents urged local leaders to do more to block the potential facility.

You know, throwing up your hands and saying we've done all we can, but I just want to implore you that that is not true and there's still actions that you can take meaningfully impede ice.

Roxbury's all-Republican mayor and council members say they do not support ice turning the nearly half a million square foot vacant industrial property on Route 46 into a detention center.

The township remains firmly opposed to the establishment of a detention facility at this location as outlined in Resolution 2026-029.

We have consistently voiced our concerns through public statements, official meetings, and direct engagement with our state and federal representatives.

And we have backed that statement of action over the past eight weeks.

Council members have made it clear that while they oppose the ICE facilities since the idea first surfaced, they also support federal law enforcement and ICE's operations.

And they're saying that they support DHS and they support ICE.

And after everything that's happened, I just can't, it boggles my mind that they're still saying that.

And in the same breath, they're talking about protecting the residents as if the two things are diametrically opposed.

But residents demanded answers, accusing the council of not trying hard enough and sending mixed messages about their stance.

In recent days, we have met with Senator Andy Kim to discuss potential federal avenues of support.

We've also met with the New Jersey Attorney General's office to explore how the state and the township can work together to legally protect our township resources.

Still some residents questioned whether Township Attorney Anthony Bucco, who also serves as Senate Minority Leader, presents a conflict of interest.

It's an accusation Bucco denies.

Senator Bucco being on the record voting against things like others have commented on, on masking and other things, curbing ice, yet he's supposed to be the tip of the spear, the legal counsel the town turns to in terms of blocking this.

Many residents say they left the meeting feeling uncertain about what happens next and raised concerns about the environmental impact the plan could cause as well.

And what's happening in suburbs and other parts of the country.

I don't think they've really, it doesn't seem to me like they've educated themselves.

They don't, they seem to think that Roxbury is here and everything else is over here and there's no intertwining and I think that's one of the most disturbing things that people can compartmentalize that and not really be aware of the suffering that's going on and feeling like they're not responsible for it or they don't need to see it.

The property has three warehouses on it and two of them have been functional for quite a while operating just like any other warehouse.

The warehouse in question, the one that's empty, was built several years ago and has sat vacant while certain variances had to be approved.

And that is the warehouse that everyone keeps talking about.

But they're all on the same parcel of land.

And ICE either buys all of them or they have to subdivide to only buy the one in question.

And they didn't subdivide it, which means they own three warehouses.

What are they going to do with the other warehouses?

We don't know.

And none of the answers are very good for the people of Roxbury.

Township officials have told ICE and DHS that the warehouse, which was designed to store goods, does not have the infrastructure to house people.

Sewer and water are among their concerns.

Wastewater from that many people would have to go somewhere.

That's going to go into our rivers that I like to swim in and our family swim in in the summertime.

And that, that's awful.

Roxbury officials, including attorney Anthony Bucco, say they are prepared to pursue legal action if necessary.

A timeline and specific details about plans for the proposed Roxbury detention facility remain unknown.

For NJ Spotlight News, I'm Raven Santana.

- The switch to eBooks has made reading more convenient for many people.

As more readers choose these options, libraries have had to adapt to offer eBooks to their communities.

But the costs that they have to pay are much higher than the print version of a book, in some cases, three to five times the amount.

While a proposed law would change those pricing models.

Here to talk about it is the director of the Hoboken Public Library, Jenny Pu, as part of our Under the Dome series.

Jenny, so great to have you with us.

Why is it that libraries are paying three to five times more for an e-book than they are for a print copy of a book?

- Well, thank you for having me, Joanna.

You know, demand for digital books and audio books keeps growing in New Jersey.

And every year libraries are spending more to try to keep up.

At Hoboken, where I'm the director, we now spend more on digital content than we do on physical books.

But what most people don't realize is that libraries actually have zero ability to negotiate the price, the terms, or even how we access it.

That's all set by a handful of publishers and libraries either accept those terms or we don't offer those books.

So the difference there then is when you're purchasing a print copy of a book you could go to probably a number of different publishers to decide what books you bring in.

There are fewer publishers for e-books.

Is that correct.

Well a handful of publishers control the vast majority of the most in-demand titles and a library's mission is to serve the public.

And if the public wants a certain title really that's the title they want to read.

So we have to provide that.

And so we then have to basically accept those terms that are set to us by those publishers.

And as I understand it part of those terms is that you have to continue paying for that book over and over and over that digital copy of that book.

Is there an explanation that's ever been given as to why that's a required repeated purchase rather than a one-time purchase like you would for a print copy?

Yeah, I'm so glad you made that.

That difference.

I liken it to and I want to be very explicit.

Libraries.

We are here to exist to.

We serve the public and we see the huge demand for the reasons that you've mentioned.

People are using e-books for not just convenience but for accessibility reasons.

We continue to pay into these licenses that were sent to us and think of it like trying to fill a bathtub with a drain wide open.

Every license we purchase expires typically in two years.

And so we continue to pour money down into that.

But the line doesn't go down because licenses keep expired.

So what this bill does is set some parameters on how public institutions spending this amount of money on digital content can function.

Yeah I want to talk about that bill.

Senator Andrew Zwicker, state senator here in New Jersey, has proposed a bill that would limit these types of contracts.

And he's put some stipulations in the bill as to what cannot be included.

Let me just say more broadly, he prohibits the procurement or licensing of any contracts that limit or restrict the library's ability to have its customary lending function.

What are some of the things that this bill would stop in terms of that contracting process that you just laid out?

Well, I think most importantly, again, I want to say we don't have any say in how these terms are being dictated to us.

Any normal market situation where you're spending millions of public funds, we would have a say in that.

And so Senators Wicker is really asking an accountability question.

How is it that public institutions collectively spending millions and digital content have no ability to negotiate.

And so this will be setting some reasonable parameters for how taxpayer dollars are used in a digital market.

I found it interesting that one of the items here in terms of the rules that would be set is that you would be allowed to share information about your contracts with other libraries or with the Attorney General's office.

Are you right now precluded from sharing that information.

You're very right.

We don't have access to that.

And this bill is surfacing some basic transparency.

We want transparency because we are stewards of public dollars.

We want to be able to deliver the highest value for the public that we serve.

So violations would fall under the Consumer Fraud Act.

If this bill does pass what does it mean for libraries.

And then what does it mean for the community.

Well I want to say you know multiple states are moving forward on this and I'm really proud the New Jersey is moving forward.

Rhode Island just introduced their bill a few weeks ago.

What this starts is an actual process of negotiation.

Fundamentally is that we want to provide more access to these titles to meet the huge demand in a way that's sustainable and ensures that we are spending taxpayer dollars in the most efficient and fair way possible.

Yeah.

And not spending and respending and respending.

Right.

Right.

Jenny Poo, director of the Hoboken Public Library.

Thank you so much for coming on and talking to us about this.

Thank you so much for having me.

Under the Dome is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

That's gonna do it for us tonight.

I'm Joanna Gagis for the entire team here at NJ Spotlight News.

Thanks for being with us.

We will see you right back here tomorrow.

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