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TRADE VS. DIPLOMA

Is pursuing a college degree or vocation a better option? @Issue

09.25.16

FOUR YEARS LATER: DEFERRED ACTION FOR CHILDHOOD ARRIVALS

Only small portion of undocumented youth

in state have applied for deferred action

Bridgegate
trial: Officials
forgot how to
behave on job
MIKE KELLY COMMENTARY
Lets face it, being a government
worker is not all that complicated. Tax
collectors collect taxes. Street cleaners
clean streets. Firefighters put out fires.
Cops write tickets and arrest criminals.
Simple, straightforward stuff.
Now consider the Bridgegate trial
that began last week. Consider what we
are learning about all these public servants who took on tasks that were never part of their
job descriptions. All this extra work. Truly amazing to
behold.
Lets begin with Bill Baroni, one of the top officials at
the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, personally appointed by Gov. Chris Christie. Baroni is now
on trial for stepping out of his role and helping to orchestrate the traffic scheme that gridlocked Fort Lees
streets for five days in September 2013 as punishment
for its Democratic mayors refusal to endorse RepubSee KELLY, Page 20A

KAREN YI/STAFF PHOTO

Adan Pacheco, 22, helps a client at Catholic Charities in Lakewood. Pacheco is an undocumented immigrant
who received deferred action under President Obama's executive action on immigration to avoid deportation.

MOVEMENT
SLOW FOR
IMMIGRANTS
KAREN YI @KAREN_YI

Its been four years since President Barack Obama first extend-

Republican presidential
candidate Donald Trump

Democratic presidential
candidate Hillary Clinton

Hate Trump? Hate

Clinton? Dont get
fired over politics

ed a lifeline to young undocumented immigrants allowing

MICHAEL L. DIAMOND @MDIAMONDAPP

those brought here illegally by their parents to work, pay in-state

college tuition and live without fear of deportation. But at least
half of those who qualify for the deferred action program in New
Jersey have not applied, new numbers show. About 53,000 undocumented youths are immediately eligible for the program,
yet only 23,000 have applied as of March, according to an August
study by the Migration Policy Institute. The 43 percent application rate is lower than the national average of 63 percent even
though New Jersey has the sixth-highest number of eligible
youths in the U.S., following states such as New York, Texas and
California all of which have application rates over 50 percent.
See YOUTH, Page 2A

500K

Total number of
undocumented
immigrants living
in New Jersey.

53K

Undocumented
youths eligible for
Obamas deferred
action plan.

23K

Number who have

applied for the
deferred plan.

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Obama: Smithsonians
African-American history
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OPINION
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VOLUME 137
NUMBER 230
SINCE 1879

Sandi Vilacobas Pilates class had just ended one day

in fall 2004 when two of her clients began to argue about
the merits of then President George W. Bush and his
Democratic challenger, John Kerry.
The debate grew intense, and for Vilacoba, the owner of The Pilates Project in Fair Haven, it ended in disaster. One of her clients never returned.
Since then, I never talk about politics to any of my
clients, said Vilacoba, 40, of West Long Branch. Im
terrified.
Employers and workers are being dragged into a
presidential election once again, only this time they are
coping with two candidates many of them apparently
dislike, a cable television news channel blaring nonstop
in their office, and Facebook and Twitter offering an
easy chance for them to jump into the mud.
In short, minefields abound, prompting lawyers,
personnel directors and social media experts to put up
See POLITICS, Page 21A