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>> Tonight on nj Spotlight news, the legal battle over the Trump administration's push to deport a Columbia University activist is coming to New Jersey.

>> If it were anyplace else in the world, we would be standing up solidly against it.

Recognizing it for the and you and humanity represents.

>> a judge orders a Seton Hall to turn over a report about what the current schools current president may have known about sexual abuse in the Newark archdiocese.

>> the judge decided that Seton Hall in her view violated a previous court order from a couple of years ago.

>> it's day one of public hearings for the governor's proposed $58 billion budget.

>> South Jersey based businesses are being taxed for public services they desperately want and need but have limited access to.

>> And a fiery board of Ed meeting in Middletown as it weighs drastic changes in the face of severe financial woe.

"NJ Spotlight news" begins right now.

♪ >> From NJ PBS Studios, this is "NJ Spotlight News" with Briana Vannozzi.

>> Thanks for joining us.

I am Joanna Gagis.

We begin with a few of today's top headlines.

A fiery board meeting in Middletown is a just a proposed two different plans to deal with a $10 million budget deficit.

Both plans are bringing major disruptions to the school systems.

One option would close two elementary schools and redistrict elementary and middle school students across the 42 square mile town.

The other option would be to lay off 120 staff members in cut sports bussing and freshman sports and elementary school band.

The more than three our board meeting got heated at times with hundreds of parents showing up, many voicing their frustration with both plans, some accusing the district of mismanaging funds.

The superintendent has said these are the fiscal realities the district faces and is trying to strategically address and the best interests of all Middletown students.

The board has until April 30 to make a final decision on its plan.

Also tonight the deportation case of pro-Palestinian activist Macron Khalil has been moved to New Jersey.

He was detained by ICE for his role leading protest on the campus of Columbia University last year.

He is a green card holder who is married to a United States citizen and is also a graduate student at Columbia.

He was taken into custody on March 8 and was held at the Elizabeth detention center in New Jersey before being moved to Louisiana to await trial.

He yesterday gave his first public statement since being detained, dictating a letter saying he believes his case as part of a broader Trump administration effort to suppress dissent and expressing hope you will be freed in time to see the birth of his first child in April.

His attorney saw a big win today when New York federal judge F urman determined that his case would be heard in New Jersey.

The judge said the case needs careful judicial review after his visa was revoked and secretary of state Marco Rubio accused him of siding with terrorists and determined that his activities in the United States would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.

Khalil's attorney says his detention violate his First Amendment right to free speech and his Fifth Amendment right to due process of law.

Bonnie Watson Coleman denounced the governments actions at a press conference earlier this week.

>> They made it difficult for him to communicate with his lawyers and with his family That is un-American.

That is what Puitin has done to people who disagree with him.

We don't do that in this country.

And if were anyplace else in the world, we would be standing up solidly against it recognizing it for the inhumanity that it represents.

>> And want to President Trump's earliest actions in office was an executive order banning transgender individuals from serving in the military saying it conflicts with the soldiers commitment to an honorable truthful and disciplined lifestyle."

Two New Jersey transgender men filed a lawsuit on Monday, joining with other service who sued the administration, and yesterday a federal judge in Washington DC blocked the band, ruling it violates the constitutional rights of the service members.

The judge delayed her order until Friday to give the administration time to appeal.

Meanwhile, groups in New Jersey are declaring -- a symbol, an upside down triangle, used by Nazis to persecute gay men during the Holocaust for the simple shared on the article about Army recruitment under President Trump.

SteSeton Hall's -- a possible sex abuse Cover up were overturned yesterday.

It must turn over report to investigate abuse allegations against members of the Newark archdiocese.

One member is the now defrocked Theodore McCarrick.

Monsignor Riley has been accused of knowing about and not reporting the Keryx abuse only to be named president of Seton Hall University last year.

The New Jersey editor for political was in the courtroom as the ruling came down.

He is here now to talk about it.

Great to have you with us tonight.

I know yesterday was a long day in court.

Help us understand what happened.

What the judge's ruling will determine now in terms of making this report more open.

>> Yeah, it was a lengthy hearing and there were a number of arguments on both sides made but what it came down to and what the judge decided was that Seton Hall in her view violated a previous court order from a couple of years ago where she says they should have coughed up certain documents related to this 2019 report that is related to former Cardinal McCarrick into clergy abuse at Seton Hall.

So she said that Seton Hall violated that order, and they now have to give her an unredacted version of that report and related documents for her to review.

Then she will decide whether portions of it are subject to attorney client privilege.

And she will share that redacted version with lawyers for the plaintiffs in this broader case.

>> Help us understand, the case that Seton Hall was making because they did commission this report.

They have said that this was attorney-client privileged.

Explain how they argued that in court, which seems was unsuccessful.

>> Yeah, they made a lot of different arguments.

Some of it was to go against what the plaintiffs have argued.

But they had said that this was subject to attorney-client privilege and therefore, they should not have to turn over but they also said they were not subject to a discovery order from a couple years ago.

But that obviously did not work with the judge and she ruled the way that she did.

So, she will see this report.

>> The plane just to make in the case and as you told me before we started about 450 plaintiffs.

But they are making the case that this is not a situation of just a few bad apples.

Someone was quoted as saying that this is a rotten orchard.

What are -- what do they believe this report indicates in terms of the broader alleged cover-up?

>> Yeah, it is just like you said, I think the belief on the plaintiff's side is that this is going to go towards, contribute towards the broader argument that this was a broad and systemic problem within the archdiocese.

They are dealing with about 450 cases of alleged abuse within the archdiocese, including Seton Hall and other parishes within the New Yrok archdiocese.

450 cases going back 70 or 80 years.

It is a lot.

They are wrestling with thousands if not millions of documents.

So, the 2109 report is just going to fold into all of that.

And I think that they believe this is going to make their broader case that there was long-standing systemic issues within the church.

>> One of those alleged claims is that Monsignor Joseph Riley, who is now the president of Seton Hall University, was aware of sex abuse allegations against Theodore McCarrick who is now d efrocked.

What are you hearing and what are we sitting around the state in terms of calls now for Riley to step down as the head of Seton Hall University, and do you believe that the overturning of this report could have an impact in that?

>> I'm not sure that would have an impact on that.

Seton Hall has stood very firm in standing by father Don Monsignor Riley's side.

I want to clarify it is alleged that he knew about, he may of heard or known about things with Mccarrick, but it was separate allegations that he knew about.

He is not accused of these himself.

I want to make that clear.

Law makers are still, some of them are still pushing for this Representative McEachin or has not been satisfied with the responses she has gotten.

Two state senators are not satisfied.

They are probably the strongest voices in Trenton right now.

They put out a statement to me the other day saying this really is not enough.

That the University should be transparent in should let people know, but Seton Hall, as I said, they have stood firmly by Monsignor Riley and it looks like they are going to stay that way for now.

>> So the report has been ordered to be turned over.

Has not yet.

As you said, we in the public are not going to have access to it as of yet.

But we will keep on the story.

I know you will, too.

The New Jersey editor with political.

Thanks so much for your time.

Good to have you with us.

>> Thank you for having me.

>> Budget season in New Jersey which means all the pundits and advocates, the business and industry leaders, come out to ask for their share.

Senior political correspondent David Cruise sat in on the first budget hearing TC who is showing up and who is asking for more -- to see who was showing up it >> Like the start of baseball season which debts with which it coincides, the first day a budget city draws enthusiastic audiences, eager lobbyists and leaders of nonprofits and trade groups.

It's standing room only and there is a cheerful list of things.

And then the hearings began.

That is when things get real.

And long and often repetitive and predictable.

>> This year's budget is far worse.

>> we have a $585 million economic impact on the economy.

>> I'm going to bring you up.

South Jersey Based business are being taxed -=- >> the Main Street recovery fund was cut by 66%.

>> It is extremely rare for any of the group to testify before the budget committee, though mostly the same statement before the Senate Budget Committee next week to say that business conditions are great.

Or that the state has given too much to their nonprofit.

It is like that in good times and bad.

Law makers, aware that this budget even at $58 billion, is going to be difficult to find in these uncertain times registered some inpatience and perhaps some defensiveness.

>> There was one thing I constantly wonder.

And I'm sure that many other people in this room do as well -- and that is the additional programs that we are talking about lowering the taxes where possible, where is the offset?

We talk about needing to reinvigorate the economy with additional funds.

Where are those funds coming from?

>> I will say, if you look through and things that were added, they were not programming.

Yes, we had additions to, county colleges and education education was a big big bucket of where we put a lot of money into a but a lot of it was capital spending, were projects, were things to keep the economy going, especially in local places.

>> I also got a little bit of a sense of some defensiveness from law makers who were like, well, we will have a tough time, etc.

Did you sense that, too?

>> I understand the defensiveness, because the assembly budget committee, they own the budget, they own this process.

But where I would push back is that I don't think anybody is out there going to say we are a low tax state or a low spending state.

And I think finding some cuts should be doable in a way that is not necessarily impacting people, and we should not -- in a state that has the highest property taxes of highest corporate taxes in the nation, a very high income tax rate, sales tax -- to say we need another $1.2 billion in new taxes is hard to justify.

>> Is the kind of stuff a lot of this crowd, many of whom left after their group testified, have not heard before.

But sometimes you GOT to speak your piece.

That's how William -- an advocate for augmentative and alternative communication devices put it.

>> Do you think that they are listening to you when you testify today?

>> I don't know, but if I don't say something I cannot complain.

>> This process will run through the end of June.

When, if past budget season as there are any indications, the governor, the Speaker of the assembly, and the Senate president will get into a room and decide after hours and hours of earnest testimony, what the final state budget will look like.

I'm David Cruz, "NJ Spotlight News.

: >> Yesterday we heard from Democrats in the state reacting to many of the policies that have come out of the Trump Administration in the first two months of its term.

While they are not happy, recent CNN poll shows that 79% of Republican and Republican leaning voters are feeling good about the GOP.

I'm joined now by the chair of the New Jersey Republican state committee, Bob Hugin, to offer his take on how Republicans in New Jersey are feeling about President Trump's recent actions.

Chairman Hugin, thanks for joining us tonight.

We are about two months into the second Trump term, how are Republicans here in New Jersey feeling so far?

>> It's been an exciting time.

A lot going on, we are very happy where -- the country is moving in theback deck-- we could not be more pleased.

>> What if you been most pleased with in terms of actions this president has taken?

>> The first thing is the tone.

We need a president who acts.

The first thing is done, he delivered on the campaign promise of securing the border.

We now are controlled, we are a country gun.

I'm a big fan of immigration which I think most people are.

We need to have a control.

We need to have the border controlled, let people come in legally here, and I'm a big fan of that.

Let's get that done.

A lot more work being done to get the country safe again, get the economy going, regulation, a lot of positive things going on it is less than two months, I guess, two months into the campaign -- into the presidency.

>> Are Republicans going to move any type of legislation forward that is going to make meaningful change so that there are pathways to citizenship here in United States?

>> I do think we should have comprehensive immigration reform but I think -- it'd take 60 votes in the Senate.

It is not something Republicans can do unilaterally and there are lots of complicated issues but I think we need to have a pathway to citizenship for people who are good, strong performers that want to help, love the country and want to help the country move forward economically.

But we want to get rid of the criminals, the poor the criminals, we do not need the criminals coming to our country, and committing the crimes that they have done.

>> Most of the pushback from Democrats right now is about the cuts to programs and funding we have seen come from the administration.

Do any of the cuts that you have seen so far concerning?

>> You know, I am not really aware of any cuts.

I think a lot of talk -- >> Under DOGE Department of government efficiency.

>> I am not familiar with the real cuts.

I think it is causing things to make sure we make good decisions.

>> For example, the Department of Education fired half of its staff.

>> No, I think they fired probationary employees.

>> it was half of the staff.

And then probationary employees across multiple departments has now been overturned and the courts as of yesterday, 20 4000 probationary employees returned to their positions.

But for Department of education for example, is that the right way to go, to slash a department and have?

>-- in half?

>> Do we need a department of education?

The U.S. government needs to ensure that the states are operating things in a very fair and appropriate way.

But let's be clear.

The education system in New Jersey is broken and failed.

The minority kids in the inner cities, the poor white kids in rural areas are destined to a life of, not the kind of opportunities they should have educationally or economically because of the poor educational system.

And we refuse to make reforms, but education is a local issue.

It is a city, the county, the state thing.

Federal government should provide resources but it should not be blocking the way, telling people how to run education.

How did they know what is good for Alaska or New Jersey.

It needs to be local control.

Locally, locally funded for the most part.

With oversight.

Not not bureaucracy telling people how to do things.

So, I'm a big believer in deed regulation.

Let people go back to work, let teachers teach and let's let, let's get things going here and -- because it is shameful for what we have done for generations to our kids, especially New Jersey.

>> Local curriculum is set here in New Jersey for New Jersey schools.

When it comes to tariffs, and the last few seconds, the president ran on making the United States more affordable.

Our tariffs the way to go?

Is this the right move when Trump himself says we may be entering a recession.

>> President Trump will be judged on his performance.

Did he deliver?

Lower price,s free from strength and regulation.

All good things he promised and is working on.

So I cannot in two months to say that I'm going to judge the success that we should be talking about, not the process itself.

Do I agree with 100% of things?

No, but I'm very much aligned with what he's done so far and where we are headed.

Most importantly deliver on those results.

>> Bob Hugin chair of the Republican State committee.

Thank you for being with us tonight.

Appreciate your time.

Reactions are pouring in after yesterday's decision by the states grand jury not to file criminal charges against two Paterson police officers involved in the fatal shooting of 90 seed works in 2023.

Seabrooks was killed following a standoff with police while he was having a mental health crisis.

Despite calls from fellow intervention specialist to intervene, they were not allowed access and investigation and the release of body camera footage shows that officers fatally shot Seabrooks after he moved toward police with a knife.

His death led the city to take steps towards reform.

However, yesterday's decision was disappointing but not surprising for community advocates.

>> Naji Seabrooks and others like them should should be alive -- should still be alive today.

>> After the failed to think -- the failure to indict police officers social justice advocates are disappointed but not surprised.

>> The courts will always side with the police officers not victims because they will say the officers did everything that was legally required to do.

>> There needs to be more investigation that the police officers need to be held accountable.

And then we need, by having a systemic change and by holding them to be accountable we can reach that systemic change.

>> About two years ago, Seabrooks called 91 one while expressing a mental health crisis in Paterson.

After Peolice responded, it began a standoff, where he set a fire in the bathroom.

Until bodycam footage shows him emerging with a knife.

>> They did everything they possibly humanly could to de-escalate that situation hurt sometimes things do not end up that we wanted to enter.

>> He says these officers follow protocol and did nothing wrong.

He also says the state's Attorney General's office was fair in investigating the shooting.

>> They were extremely thorough.

In their investigation, but now I would hope that those individuals who accused by members of murder, that they would, and apologized.

>> A few weeks after, the AG's office took over the PETTERSEN Police Department.

It is sparked widespread criticism of how please respond to people expansive mental health >> >> I can understand having that feeling but these guys, their training is different.

That five hour standoff that you guys, that we all know about is part of the training that has occurred in the last, what, five or six years with this AG.

>> Even if someone does have a weapon or as acting erratically, it does not mean that they deserve bullets i.

They deserved, patience, c are >> There needs to be a mental health professional on scene.

And there is a continued issue here of the police being militarized.

Of there being police response to a health crisis.

And that's unfortunately -- the family of Naji Seabrooks will not see this play out in the courts.

>> Arrive together pairs mental health professionals with police to respond to certain 911 calls.

He says it is an option for Patterson in the future.

>> Very open to that.

But it does not mean to prevent -- it will prevent something like this from happening.

You have someone that has barricaded, someone that has been, situation where someone is being violent.

>> What a potential victim sees officers in riot gear or multiple officers armed inside their homes, they feel threatened.

Especially individuals who may not be in their correct mental state.

>> In response to Naji's death, the Seabrooks Washington Bill appropriate's 12 million-dollar is in state funds to community response teams.

As for the Paterson Police Department, the state Supreme Court will hear arguments in the next month about whether or not it is constitutional for the AG to take it over in the lawsuit.

>> It is well within the Attorney General's authority to, to supersede a Police Department and that authority has been granted by the legislature of the New Jersey and it's something that has repeated over the course of history, under the office of the Attorney General.

>> Late last week, the Seabrooks family filed a lawsuit against the city of Patterson.

The family hoping that someone will someday be held accountable for the death of their loved one.

For "NJ Spotlight News" I am Ted Goldberg.

>> That is going to do it for us tonight.

Before we go, reminder, you can download our podcast wherever you listen and watch us any time by subscribing to the "NJ Spotlight News" YouTube channel, plus you can follow us on Instagram and blue sky to stay up-to-date on all of the state big headlines.

For the entire team at "NJ Spotlight News" thanks for being with us.

Have a great evening.

And we will see you back here tomorrow.

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♪