Meyer and Sherrill on immigration actions across the U.S.

Meyer and Sherill have joined national outrage building over President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, especially after federal agents shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti last month in Minneapolis. DHS also faced blowback after agents allegedly used 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, photographed in a bunny hat and Spiderman backpack, as bait to arrest others. DHS has denied that.

Meyer joined a rally in Newark after Good’s death and issued a statement after the fatal shooting of Pretti.

“This morning’s shooting in Minneapolis was not a one off incident, but further proof that ICE has no regard for human life,” Meyer said in a Jan. 24 Facebook post. “I stand with my fellow Democratic governors and demand action and accountability for these unconstitutional and un-American killings.”

Meyer has also urged the federal government to release Victor Acurio Suarez, a disabled Seaford resident who is facing deportation to Ecuador.

Meyer took a stand on Avelo’s deportation flights last spring, vowing he would boycott Avelo.

“I think it’s important that Delawareans and people everywhere have the freedom to choose which companies they want to work with and which companies they don’t want to work with,” he said on the December episode of “Ask Governor Meyer,” a monthly call-in show produced by WHYY News and Delaware Public Media. “I think it’s important that we make sure that if someone’s involved in deportations without due process, they don’t get any relief or assistance from Delaware taxpayers.”

But he suggested on January’s “Ask Gov. Meyer” that the state boycotting companies could be problematic.

He said if the state were to boycott any company working with ICE, state officials would need to look at “every company working with ICE, and let’s make sure that not a single penny of state money is going to work with any entity doing any business with ICE,” he said. “Because it’s a lot more than just Daedalus. It’s probably a lot of companies that you and I see every day.”

Meyer also appeared to indicate the state could consider working with Daedalus under certain conditions.

“Daedalus has committed, not in the lease, but verbally, and I think publicly, to use the Wilmington airport facility for VIP transports, not for deportation transports,” he said. “Number one, that absolutely has to be in any lease.”

A spokesperson for Sherrill said in a statement that while this is a proposal, “Gov. Sherrill has serious concerns and will make a determination in the near future.”

From Camden and Cherry Hill to Trenton and the Jersey Shore, what about life in New Jersey do you want WHYY News to cover? Let us know.

Homelessness isn’t just a problem in New Jersey cities. It’s impacting many suburban areas as well, but it may be less visible if people without homes congregate in wooded areas and behind shopping centers. Five years ago, 8,097 people were identified as being unhoused during a federally mandated point-in-time count that is conducted annually. Last year, that number spiked to 13,748, an increase of almost 70%.

Data collected during the count, which took place Feb. 4, is used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to determine federal and state assistance for people who are homeless.

Some homeless individuals find shelter from freezing temperatures in train stations, on buses and in warming centers, while others remain outside with their belongings in shopping carts and bags.

Crystal DeLeon spends much of her time sitting outside a laundromat on the Trenton-Ewing border. She said she has been living on the street for seven years and she cannot go to a shelter because of a spinal issue, but she feels happy to be alive.

“I’m emotionally shook that I made it, because I’m not even supposed to be standing, because I can’t move from here right now,” she said.

Tip of the iceberg

The actual number of people without a home is much higher than the number of people who get counted, said Kasey Vienckowski, leader of the Homeless Planning Team at Monarch Housing Associates. The nonprofit organization assists communities with plans to end homelessness and expand affordable housing.

“They are avoiding service providers, or sometimes during the coldest of the winter months they may find some place to temporarily shelter,” Vienckowski said.

She said individuals who couch surf, going from friend to friend for a place to sleep for days or weeks on end, are not technically counted as homeless because they are sleeping in a permanent residence for a period of time.

Taiisa Kelly, Monarch’s CEO, agreed that the point-in-time count, which has been done for more than a decade, is really just the tip of the homeless iceberg.

“It does provide a consistent assessment of trends over time, but it doesn’t provide a comprehensive picture of every single person experiencing homelessness,” she said.

Each county has a point-in-time coordinator, and when the count is conducted, multiple teams are dispatched to shelters, parks, train stations, soup kitchens, homeless encampments and other areas, asking individuals where they slept the previous night and offering them referrals to warming centers and various assistance programs.

Rockstar Jon Bon Jovi, a New Jersey native, is getting ripped by NJ residents for introducing the Patriots before Sunday’s Super Bowl 60 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Bon Jovi was a Giants fan earlier in his life, but he later became a Patriots fan after his close friends, former Giants coaches Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick, both became head coaches in New England. He has since developed a close friendship with Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

Giants fans, Jets fans, New Jersey residents alike despise Bon Jovi’s Patriots’ fandom. They have criticized him on social media all night.

“Jon Bon Jovi, a Jersey guy, being a Patriots fan is extremely fraudulent even by Jon Bon Jovi standards,” an X user posted.

“Jon Bon Jovi is a traitor to the state of New Jersey by being a Pats fan,” another X user posted.

“Jon Bon Jovi’s overt Patriot fandom is such a slap in the face to New Jersey,” another person complained.

Both Parcells and Belichick are no longer with the Patriots, but Bon Jovi’s loyalty has remained with New England. If the Patriots upset the Seahawks, Bon Jovi could celebrate with Kraft all night long.