Announcer: Funding for "NJ Spotlight News" provided by -- the members of the New Jersey Education Association.

Making public schools great for every child.

And RWJ Barnabas Health.

Let is be healthy together.

BREANA: Tonight on "NJ Spotlight News," The migrant crisis on the border continues to trickle into New jersey.

Talk heats up over claims the state could use a former psychiatric hospital to house and process the undocumented.

>> Frankly, we need to stop this onslaught of people just walking in.

We shouldn't even be thinking about having to process people here.

BRIANNA: Plus, social media lawsuit, A year after the suicide death of a 14-year-old, the school district is suing multiple platforms, claiming they are responsible for a mental health crisis among teens.

>> The social media companies are completely and always have been completely irresponsible and paying no attention and fact, making enormous profits off the suffering of kids.

BRIANNA: Also, New Jersey clamps down on toll cheats.

In u local can arise drivers for unpaid -- will penalize drivers for unpaid tolls.

And saving the seals.

Rescues are underway as seal stranding season begins.

>> If the weather gets worse, we will see more strandings as animals get beat up by the weather.

BRIANNA: "NJ Spotlight News" starts right now.

♪ ANNOUNCER: from NJPBS Studios, this is NJ Spotlight News with Briana Vannozzi.

BRIANNA: Good evening and thanks for joining us this Monday night.

I am Briana Vannozzi.

New Jersey's role in the migrant crisis is at the center of the debate after an old state proposal recently surfaced for a potential site to house and process unprocessed migrants who come here.

The director last week told county leaders the Murphy administration is considering using the old Hagedorn State psychiatric Hospital as a processing facility.

That caused an uproar among Republicans and many local leaders in the area who argued resources are already stretched then for the towns around the hospital.

With some promoting stances that progressives consider anti-immigration and isolationist.

The Murphy administration says there is no such plan or proposal in place, but as senior political correspondent David Cruz reports that isn't stopping the political fallout.

Reporter: ask almost anyone running for anything nowadays from either party, and they will tell you the federal government and Congress are most to blame for the influx of migrants at the border and those getting put on buses that have recently been stopping in New Jersey.

But Republicans here are taking the opportunity to, depending on who you ask, take political advantage of the situation or raise the alarm about it>>, impacting the state.

>>This is a failed border policy of this Biden administration.

Also, Governor Murphy has declared us to be a sanctuary state.

So our doors are open for people to come here.

REPORTER: The assembly Republican leader John DeMeo echoing the Republican line today, reacting he says, to concerns from Hampden County officials to the idea of using the former Hagadorn State psychiatric hospital as a potential processing facility for undocumented migrants.

>> Did someone from the state say that this was an impending action?

How did this all come about?

>> It was on a call with county officials.

Their interpretation was this is something that could happen.

REPORTER: But you.

>> Now before it could happen, we want answers.

Reporter: the state says no such action is pending and that it was over a year ago that the decommissioned Hospital in rural Hagadorn was previously identified as a potential State site should the need arise to shelter a mass group of individuals, not limited to migrants, but also included weather related events or large-scale emergencies.

Immigrants rights Advocates say the state has a responsibility to provide basic services for migrants who show up here , acknowledging the need for a federal solution, but also cautioning against demonizing those most vulnerable.

>> I think it's really important to note that this is an election year.

Presidential election year.

And just like years before where at that time, the talking point in the specter was migrant caravans, right, and before that it was chain migration.

Before that it was anchor babies.

There is always this scary term people come up with during election cycles to basically pick communities against each other.

Reporter: Residents near the facility -- and near is a relative term since it is located in a wooded area away from homes or mass transit or emergency services or even a supermarket -- they seemed not as alarmed as some of their Republican Representatives .

>> Ignoring it is not going to make it go away.

We need to work together to fix our immigration policy and maybe if we all had a little skin in the game, we would all work a lot faster to make it better.

>> It's been standing empty and it not being utilized and is an amazing facility.

It would be better to be used than just to be standing empty.

So if they could use a -- utilize it to accommodate immigrants, I am all for that.

Reporter: It's not as if New Jersey didn't have its share of unauthorized residents here already.

And the debate over their impact has already been intense.

And with the prospect of more busloads of migrants heading to states like ours, even if they are just passing through, that debate will only intensify in an election year.

With her the impact is real or imagined.

I am David Cruz, NJ Spotlight news.

BRIANNA: The school district where a 14-year-old student died by suicide after a video of her bullying was spread online is facing fresh scrutiny for filing a lawsuit against social media companies and blaming them for fueling the team mental health crisis.

But -- fueling the teen mental health crisis.

But parents and students within the Central Regional School District in Ocean County say District leaders are ducking their responsibility and not following through on the changes they promised.

Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports.

>> social media is terrible.

Absolutely horrible.

REPORTER: Jill Heff's daughter attends Central Regional High School, where 14 year old Adriana Couch died by suicide almost a year ago after classmate here assaulted her and then posted a video of that attack on social media.

The district just announced it is suing several platforms, including Meta.

Formerly known as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, to change how these companies operate.

And hopefully compel them to take responsibility and make changes, says the Board President.

Heff's is unimpressed.

>> I truly think they are doing it just to cover their own butts.

Oh, well, she was bullied online.

REPORTER: She is still deeply concerned.

>> Her friend says little has changed in school.

>> There are still a fight being posted on Instagram.

Kids are recording in the hallways, recording arguments.

They are posted everywhere.

It's bad.

It's the same as last year all over again.

REPORTER: Studies suggest a virtual epidemic.

A student shot this fight video at Central Regional High School in 2021 and posted it on Instagram, a platform run by meta, which maintains Facebook and Instagram are safe because meta enforces community standards.

But an unredacted lawsuit filed by New Jersey's Attorney General revealed Meta's's internal surveys of 13 to 15 year olds on IG show 27% reported witnessing bullying within the last 7 days almost 11% said they would been personally targeted.

>> Despite the public claims that their platforms are safe, we found that the company knew that their actions were harmful to children.

The company consistently downplays what they actually know about how teens are exposed to harmful content such as suicide and self-harm content, hate speech and bullying.

Reporter: New Jersey joined 41 other states in a class action suit demanding accountability .

Meanwhile, New Jersey's anti-bullying task force last week released a disturbing report recording the highest levels of harassment , intimidation and bullying reported since the state began collecting information almost 7700 incidents of bullying confirmed.

More than 19,000 incidents, reported citywide.

>> The social media companies are completely and always have been completely irresponsible and paying attention and, in fact, making enormous profits are the suffering of kids.

REPORTER: Stuart Green helped write the task force's report, but says he wished it would have taken a tougher stand on how school districts handle bullying.

He claims it is unreported.

>> The task force, although it has good elements in it, the report does nothing to greet those meaningful consequences for administrators who don't address the issue.

REPORTER: Green encourages districts to fight cyber bullying by making students stow away their phones and special locking pouches during school .

The Central regional district distributed phone pockets for students but enforcements hardly uniform.

Emma says she is upset.

.

>> I knew Adriana personally.

Because of everything going on, it is frustrating to me because there were supposed to be changes this year, and there isn't.

I don't like it.

Reporter: we reached out but Central Regional District officials were unavailable for comment.

I am Brenda Flanagan, NJ Spotlight news.

BRIANNA: Today marks 51 years since the landmark Roe V. Wade ruling that guaranteed abortion over to the U.S..

The Supreme Court decision protected reproductive rights for nearly half a century until it was overturned in 2022.

The data Biden administration marks the anniversary by increasing protections of contraceptives along with access to abortion care at hospitals.

Lawmakers also commemorated the day.

Congressman Josh Gottheimer has an event outside the new.

crisis center to talk about a letter he sent to the U.S. Secretary asking the government to stop federal tax dollars from being used at the centers, which have been accused of being antiabortion and giving pregnant people false and misleading information when they come to a center seeking one.

There are roughly 50 crisis pregnancy centers in New Jersey, according to the group nj right to life.

All have denied allegations that intentionally misrepresent their services.

>> These so-called dissenters many believed women in a vulnerable situation and push their own ideological agenda.

I am here today to announce new action to stop taxpayer dollars from funding these so-called crisis pregnancy centers and stop them from actively deceiving women and putting their health at risk.

It's plain and simple, these antichoice centers must shutdown.

BRIANNA: Big spending by Rutgers University athletics is once again under the microscope after financial documents obtained by NJ Advance Media show the department is running a 50 form with another deficit.

That is up million dollars from the year before.

University leaders have acknowledged on multiple occasions that it is the cost of doing business in the Big Ten conference.

The athletic department spending has been a top grievance among Union faculty and staff who have long pointed to the University 's practice of diverting money from academic priorities to sports.

Brian Fonseca is the records athletic reporter for NJ Advance Media, and joins me with his latest reporting.

Good to have you on the show.

Let me ask you first, what is eating up the majority of the athletic department's budget?

>> The same thing that is eating up most athletic department budgets, coaching salaries, operational salaries of keeping what is required of big-time athletics, maintaining the fields, traveling, recruiting.

I would say nothing out of the ordinary.

You have to spend a lot of money to keep up with the Joneses in big-time football, big-time men's basketball.

Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway has said on multiple occasions since he has taken over the position that losing money is part of the deal in college athletics and he doesn't entirely expect the university to ever become a net neutral in spending with athletics.

BRIANNA: So is their argument then, that the benefits outweigh what ultimately leads to being in the red for many many years to come by having a well-known, a prominent athletics department?

What did they say about that?

GUEST: certainly.

I think the argument for any big -- -- big-time athletic department is that athletics is in no way, a marketing budget.

They are the front porch of the University.

A spokesperson used that analogy to me the other day when I asked for comment on this report.

This is a way for it to be visible.

Rutgers is being talked about more and more among people in this world and across the country, and particularly at men's basketball season next year when they have NBA picks two top five potential NBA picks coming.

That will make Rutgers an even more popular thing talked about among sports fans.

The other part of it also is the likelihood that the revenue they will be making being part of the Big 10 with the league expansion will continue to rise.

They made something like $44 million in media rights this year.

It is expected to rise to $75 million next year once the current actual deal becomes actualized.

Certainly in two years' report, you will see a higher increase in the money received from the Big 10.

BRIANNA: So essentially they are waiting on the revenues to translate to what is a long term goal here by being in the Big 10.

But you know as well as I do, obviously, the unionized faculty and staff held the University's first ever labor strike last year.

A lot of what they were in contention about was the way that the school spends the money.

Their argument was that they "Rob" the academic portion to pay for athletics.

How does this square with people on campus?

Guest: It's been a long-standing battle at records for half a century, ever since Rutgers elected to enter the big-time of college athletics, when they entered the Big East and when they decided they weren't going to be playing in the patriot league anymore.

This has been the rub for the athletic side.

The athletic department will tell you that the money they spent this year accounted for 5.6 billion dollars.

And the money they took from the University reserves as a way to cover up the shortfall was a little less than 0.1% of the University's budget.

So the academic side will continue to use athletics as an argument in their discussions.

I don't anticipate that changing anytime soon.

I think until Rutgers -- if they ever make money back on athletics, again, I don't think that is very likely, but if we ever reach that point, this will be a continuing battle among people at the university that I am sure is happening at universities at this level across the country.

BRIANNA: I have to agree with you on that one, for sure.

Brian Fonseca is the Rutgers Athletics beat reporter for NJ Advance Media.

There is a warning for any toll cheats who have crossed through Jersey lines -- "the state is coming after you."

A new law enacted by Governor Murphy earlier this month.

Gives New Jersey tolling agencies the ability to collect fines owed by in an out-of-state drivers, but enter into a reciprocity agreement with other -- by entering into a reciprocity agreement with other states to enforce penalties.

So there is no more skirting it, even if you don't live here.

The stakes are high.

According to the Murphy administration, New Jersey is owed more than $100 million by toll cheats.

Budget and finance writer John Reitmeyer is here with more details.

you looked into this law that Governor Murphy has now signed?

Lawmakers have been looking at this for quite some time.

How exactly does the deal work?

Guest: The biggest component of this new law is the reciprocity component.

The fact that New Jersey, either the tolling authorities themselves, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority runs both the Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, and in South Jersey, the South Jersey Transportation Authority runs the Atlantic City Expressway.

BRIANNA: This would include all of that?

Guest: Absolutely.

So what the new law allows New Jersey to do, either the tolling authorities or the Department of Transportation, they can set up these agreements with other States and the tolling authorities in those states where it will kind of be like we will collect or go after your toll cheats while you go after our toll cheats.

And there is big money out there, 170 one dollars in -- $117 million in unpaid tolls was estimated for 2022, the most recent year where they have complete data.

BRIANNA: Hasn't worked in the past?

Do we have any other states' examples to look at?

Guest: We do, and that was one of the reasons the sponsors of this legislation were pointing to other states that were able to collect that money.

Some of that is from our own in-state toll cheats, but there is a big portion they are looking at from out-of-state.

For example, the New York State Thruway, a recent audit in New York showed that they had something over $100 million in uncollected tolls from out-of-state motorists using that roadway.

I am sure some from New Jersey.

So you could go across different states and am sure you will see big numbers across the different tolling authorities.

BRIANNA: What is the impact when people don't pay their tools?

We hear a lot of people talk about how expensive it is, how much more expensive it is to drive through New Jersey toll roads, compared to other states.

So what is the state missing out on by not being able to collect?

Guest: Its one of those things where it's almost like cheating on taxes.

For every dollar that is not paid by someone who is evading a toll, it shifts the burden on those of us who are being charged.

In the case of the Turnpike Authority, for example, it's not just maintaining the Turnpike and the Parkway, the Turnpike authority is being used as a revenue source these days for NJ Transit.

It is covering New Jersey is portion of the new Gateway Tunnel that is being built under the Hudson River.

So when tolls aren't being collected from those who are using the roadways, it is a true user fee, it either shifts that burden onto those of us who are paying our tolls.

Or it upsets the finances of the tolling authorities so let's say BRIANNA: You did a lot of tolls to the state but you don't have the money.

Are they considering that in all of this?

Guest: While interesting element of this new law quickly is that it did create an MST program where if you owe more than $500, so not just someone who has missed a few tolls, but you have a big toll debt added up for a period of time, there will be up to 25% forgiveness offered, so maybe an incentive there to try to collect some of these back tolls.

But certainly hardships for people who are using the roadways and can't afford it, that would be a bigger issue that would have to be considered.

BRIANNA: For sure.

John Reitmeyer, great reporting, thank you for sharing it.

Guest: You're welcome.

BRIANNA: On Wall Street, stocks rallied to start the week.

Here is how the markets closed today.

♪ This time of year, New Jersey welcomes some seasonal guests along the shore.

One group is working overtime to protect them.

Seals travel to our area to wait for warmer waters up north.

Experts from that Marine Mammal Stranding Center say, for various reasons, the animals are increased risk of getting stranded here during winter months.

Tell Goldberg visited with the team who keeps their eyes and ears on the water looking for distressed seals, to get them back home.

>Ted: it might not sound like i, but three seals are on the road to recovery at the marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine.

>> In nice, easy start to the season.

Kind of gets us in the groove until things start getting crazy depending on the year.

If the weather is a little bit worse, we will see more strandings, the animals just get beat up by the weather.

Reporter: the stranding coordinator says these seals were stranded away from their friends and family and needed to be rescued.

Just like some New Jersey beachgoers who enjoy seeing them, the seals start heading South just before winter, so we are in the middle of stranding season.

>> Our seal season usually starts late November, beginning of December.

And then it will stand right -- extend right through May or June when the seals stop coming in.

They are seasonal, so they come down here for the winter and then they will head back north wind the water started warming up.

Reporter: the number of seals under their care can vary a lot.

Since the center responds to roughly 130 miles of oceanfront coast.

Sometimes they respond to other states.

>> a few years back, we had one season where we responded to 15 animals in one days, physically laid hands on 11 of them.

The following year we had a total of 15 animals admitted to the rehab.

Reporter: he says more seals are becoming stranded in New Jersey because there are more of them to begin with.

>> They were hunted almost to extinction.

Then they gained protection back in the early 1970's.

Since then, their numbers have been multiplying.

They have been doing good as far as breeding stock.

Nice, healthy population.

Coming back to the numbers they used to be historically back in the 1700s, 1800s.

They were abundant here almost year-round.

Reporter: while the seals don't have names, they have compelling stories.

This harbor seal was bitten by a shark and swam away.

The stranding Center scooped him up on Christmas day.

>> He was bitten across the hip.

REPORTER: apagel says he can go free in a few weeks.

Until then, he will be well fed.

>> It is a small fish.

Definitely not very high in fat, but it is something these guys are used to eating in the North Atlantic.

Reporter: And he will use these tanks to swim, with volunteers watching how he recovers and naps.

Pagel says the center is volunteers are good at spotting seals in distress compared to seals just looking around.

>> Years of experience is basically how we determine if they need help or not.

In most cases it's obvious, you will see a discharge from their eyes and their mouth and their nose if they are sick.

You will see that they are underweight.

If they have obvious injuries we can see that a bit, from shark bites or propeller wounds or injuries they get from climbing up on rocks.

Reporter: Once the seals are released back into the wild they can cover a lot of ground or ocean quickly they can Cruise .

>> Around 30 miles an hour.

They can also cover a lot of ground.

Like these little gray seals they are being born up around New England and they are coming down here swimming to 800 miles just to get here.

These little gray seals are just a few weeks old.

Reporter: The center says AC seals on the beach, you should admire them from a distance, preferably 50 yards.

And if you think a seal might need help, give the center a call from the in Brigantine, I am Ted Bowe Bergdahl, NJ Spotlight News.

-- I am Ted Goldberg, NJ Spotlight News.

BRIANNA: That's it for us tonight.

But don't forget to download the podcast so you can listen anytime.

I am Brianna Vannozzi.

For the entire NJSpotlightNews team, thanks for being there with us.

We will see you back here tomorrow.

>> NJM Insurance Group, serving the insurance needs of residents and businesses for more than 100 years.

And by the PSEG Foundation.

♪ >> NJM Insurance Group has been serving New Jersey businesses for over a century as part of the Garden State.

We help companies keep their vehicles on the road, employees on the job, and projects on track.

Working to protect employees from illness and injury, to keep goods and services moving across the state.

We are proud to be part of New Jersey.

Njm.

We've got New Jersey covered.

♪