Joanna: Tonight on "NJ Spotlight News" -- Ending the terror watch list.

Prospect Park's mayor joined a lawsuit against the Biden administration, saying the list targets Muslims.

Mayor Khairullah: This list has had a good deal of difficulty for so many.

It has trampled on the rights of so many Americans, largely Muslim Americans.

Joanna: Plus the battle over offshore wind rages on.

Governor Murphy calling for more federal funding, as a Republican state lawmakers call for a moratorium.

>> You continue to see these red flags being raised, and the industry, I think, is in trouble.

Joanna: Also, seeking asylum in New Jersey, as New York wrestled with an influx of migrants, some finding their way across the river to New Jersey.

>> We have seen a lot of families.

We are taking them in as we can.

Joanna: And the school bus driver shortage.

Districts are still struggling to find qualified bus drivers, despite increased pay and benefits.

Colleen: Competition for drivers is at an all-time high, between Amazon, FedEx, UPS, any kind of rideshare services.

Joanna: "NJ Spotlight News" begins right now.

Announcer: Funding for "NJ Spotlight News" is provided by the members of the New Jersey education Association, making public schools great for every child.

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

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

I am Joanna Gagis, in Briana Vannozzi.

Seeking an end to what is known as the terror watch list.

The group says the secret terror watch list exclusively targets Muslims.

One of them, the mayor of Prospect Park, Mayor Khairulla.

: Keith that he was placed on the list that even after being removed, he was denied entrance to a celebration at the White House in May.

Ted Goldberg has a report on the lawsuit, and how being placed on the list leads to being branded as a second-class citizen.

Mayor Khairullah: I was held in a Plexiglas room, where I am by myself and my family is on the others.

How do you explain that to a four-year-old, that you are a suspect of something?

Ted: Mohamed Khairullah says he was detained at the Canadian border for four hours because he used to be on the FBI's watch list.

The mayor of Prospect Park said he has no clue how he ended up there.

He landed on it sometime after coming on -- coming over to America 30 years ago.

Mayor Khairullah: my family fled Syria because my father and grandfather dared to speak against injustices and could have faced the same fate as those who have perished in Syria in the past 12 years.

Ted: His family decided on America for largely the same reasons why most people come here.

Mayor Khairullah: a land known for its institutions by governed and guided by a Constitution that guarantees everyone is treated easily and fairly.

Ted: But KHAIRULLAH says the FBI wash was betrayed his concert initial rights, and Council on Islamic relations agrees.

CAIR began suing three states and Washington, D.C. >> No matter how you prove yourself as an American, those same are against you.

>> By putting you on the watchlist, the FBI's telling every single police officer in the country, every single private company that screens the watchlist to screen people against the watchlist, whether they are pulling people over on the highway, at the border.

>> This list has caused a great deal of difficulty for so many and has trampled on the rights of so many Americans, largely Muslim Americans, and we are hoping that this shines a light on the watchlist and brings an end to its abuse.

Ted: The list itself has more than one million names on it.

Most people do not know they are on the list until they find out it cost them a job offer or leads to detainment while traveling.

Cair said as many as 98% of people on the list are Muslims.

Mayor Khairullah: the top 50 most common names, all of them, are Muslim men.

They are not only criminalizing specific people, but it's the very name itself.

>> They are very much the fabric of an American society, but at the end of the day, they are still regarded in some ways as second-class citizens and denied due process.

Ted: Khairullah employees says border employees told him his problem was solved, but they did not physically tell him he was off the list.

Mayor Khairullah: if I don't do something now, my children and their children will probably be second-class citizens based on their ethnic and religious backgrounds.

I discovered that as a second-class citizen, I am not entitled -- entitled to due process.

My government can indeed accuse me, harassed me, and tarnish my reputation without owing me an explanation or apology.

Ted: He blames the list for being uninvited from the White House for an event back in May.

C.A.I.R.

Chapters in Michigan and elsewhere are also part of the list.

In New York, Ted Goldberg, NJ Spotlight News.

Joanna: Governor Murphy joined with other governors in a letter to President Biden asking for more federal dollars for offshore wind development that is coming at a cost higher than the state can afford.

The letter is asking for federal support to offset costs that would otherwise be passed down to great players.

-- ratepayers.

Republican lawmakers in New Jersey are pleading with legislative leaders to push paws on offshore wind altogether.

I'm joined now by Senator Anthony Bucha to talk about the letter he sent.

You recently sent a letter to Senate President Mitch Kothari, Ted Koplin, and others asking for a moratorium on offshore drilling.

What kind of oversight would you like to see from the legislative leadership you're this issue?

Sen. bucco: look, there's all kinds of red flags, whether it is Orsted Telling New Jersey they don't think they are ready to move forward yet, the governor recently is set -- sent a letter, along with five other Democratic governors, northeast of the federal government asking for more help in this industry.

Red flags are all over the place, and instead of us taking a pause and taking a look at this and having the legislature involved in these discussions, the B.P.

you and the governor has been moving full steam ahead, and what is that somebody is going to have to pay for this.

We already know that by giving Orsted A bailout of $1 billion, that is going to impact taxpayers.

Joanna: Senator, you talk about the costs, and it is an interesting point, because, as he said, Governor Murphy joined with several other Democratic governors, asking for the Feds to really dedicate some funding for this.

.

My question to you is, if the federal government does back offshore wind development so that the costs no longer pass on to the ratepayer, does that change it for you?

Does that make this a more promising form of energy development?

Sen. Bucco: Look, this money does not grow on trees.

Something has got to pay for it.

Whether it is a grant given by the state of New Jersey or a grant given by the federal government, our residents are going to end up paying the bill, and usually it comes as a result of higher utility rates or higher taxes.

One way or the other, we are paying.

Governor likes to say he would like New Jersey to be the hub of the offshore wind industry.

I hope we don't end up being the crash zone.

That is where we are heading without a little oversight and without causing this industry to see whether or not this is the right mix for an energy master plan.

Joanna: Senator, in your letter, you cited tourism and the impact on New Jersey tourism economy.

What would you like a special legislative session to look at, and is tourism a part of it?

Sen. Bucco: We have to look at what these windmills look like for our beaches, what the environmental impact is causing, not only for life but on the ground.

We need to look at whether or not it is cost effective to do this, whether or not a completely electrified New Jersey is even possible.

We know that the infrastructure cannot sustain it at this point.

How much is it going to cost, how long is it going to take?

Those are all good questions that nobody seems to want to give the answers to come and instead, you know, like I said, the governor wants to make New Jersey the hub of this industry, and I hope it is not becoming a crash zone.

Joanna: Senator bucco, thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Busloads of migrants have come from New York to Texas with nowhere to go and with no cases -- in most cases, many making their way over to New Jersey where resettlement agencies are stepping into SS.

While the political debate rages on, Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan sat down with two asylum-seekers who share their experience of migrating to America and all the fear that comes with it.

Brenda: 34 euros Cynthia tells a harrowing story about fleeing her native Peru with thousands of other migrants, she crossed the Rio Grande, but with three kids clinging to mattresses, she could not return.

>> I was very scared, because it was pretty much getting kidnapped by human traffickers or getting locked up by border patrol.

Brenda: Her family got processed by I.C.E.

and put on a bus, it took months but the Peruvian asylum seeker eventually found refuge and help through a program called d.i.r.e., deportation and integration response.

>> We have seen a lot of families could we are taking them in as we can, providing them with housing and also helping them navigate the system as far as getting drivers licenses and registering the kids for schools.

Brenda: He says 20 to 30 arrive every month, but Cynthia sees news reports of protests by migrants, complaints by Mayor Eric Adams that the city cannot handle tens of thousands seeking shelter.

>> Close the border!

>> I'm very afraid to go back, you know, I'm very afraid a person like Donald Trump may become president again, because I don't want to go back.

>> New York City should not be acting like asylum-seekers are a burden.

They are immigrants.

Cities are built by immigrants.

Brenda: This pastor claims so migrants are rife with working papers already and says the rest should quickly be authorized to get jobs.

Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn can house migrants for a year.

Cost -- $1.7 million a month.

>> If we can encourage people to live near we are there f -- near where their families and community's already are, that Brenda: Can save money.

Brenda:Governor Murphy already turned down a similar to you to migrants at an airfield near Atlantic City.

He said housing.

Way from jobs in P their transition into society.

>> We get them help for a couple of months and say we don't have the funding to help you forever, figure out how you will pay your rent.

Brenda: The churches find homes for an support for 350 migrants so far this year.

These are folks without work permits, but some have managed to find jobs.

>> Finally I was able to find a job, which was my main priority.

Brenda: She wants to hide her identity and spoke through an interpreter through the church for she does not have working papers, but she found a job taking dumplings.

.

Or three kids attend -- making dumplings.

For three kids attend school.

She's going a cousin about coming to America, but not because of the jungle -- >> Telling him the truth, that here in the United States, it is not easy.

You're going to have to go to a lot of hardships.

Those things are making him think twice.

Brenda: Cynthia has relatives in Peru who are planning to come.

She found work cleaning warehouses and says she will fight to stay here.

In Highland Park, I Brenda Flanagan, NJ Spotlight News.

Joanna: girls might run the world in Beyoncé's some, but here in New Jersey politics, not so much.

In a report found major disparities between the number of women in the state and those holding public office, and when you look at women of color, those gaps only widen.

Senior Political Correspondent de la Cruz take a look at the numbers and what women have to say about it.

David: In New Jersey's lieutenant governor, 100% have been women, all supporting men, white man.

In New Jersey governors, all but one have been a white man.

It's not a shocker that this new report from Rutgers University finds despite making a 51% of the state population, women hold only 30% of the Tsitsipas municipal, county -- seats across missable, county, and other offices.

>> It is interesting that it is not a shocker.

Overall at every level, from the county level up, the county, state legislature, statewide and federal, white men hold over 50% of all the elected in the state, but they are only 20% of the population.

There's a huge gap in terms of representation relative to, you know, their share of the fibrillation.

No other group has that kind of overrepresentation, nothing even close to it.

David: The survey has its limitations, since most officials did not participate, and not everyone listed their race, but the study found women of color were all underrepresented.

Asian American and Latinas in particular in relation to their share of the five relation.

That is an issue that educator and advocate works on every day, and most frequently, she says, the big obstacle is the party line.

>> They need to eliminate the party line, and we need to allow candidates to emerge on their own and put themselves on the ballot on their own merit.

Because What Latinos and Latinas do not lack in New Jersey is ambition, what we lack is opportunity.

David: And the party line, which allows candidates for party ballot lines and party resources is controlled by -- Hi Mel Patel is with the New Jerseyans dude for social justice.

>> The line creates such an advantage over who gets to End up in office and who gets to decide who have the line?

They are party bosses, overwhelmingly white men themselves.

David: 57% for Democrats and 75% for Republicans, to be exact.

Former Senate majority leader Lorena Weinberg says the party line for sure is an impediment, but even with the party line, which is being challenged in court right now, the parties themselves need to be more proactive, she says.

Culturally, we are all well aware of it.

It is the way artwork parties operate.

Who is reaping the benefits of party activism?

Who are the lawyers?

Who are the town, the municipal lawyers, who are the planning Board consultants?

It is that whole area where men have dominated the scene, and those are very often increases into party matters and ways of having resources.

>> Women win elections at the same rate as men, we just don't run as often.

That is really what motivated me to run.

If I want other women to run, I need to also step up and do it.

And I think oftentimes some even maybe party leaders or other people in the political arena don't understand that it is equally as powerful to have a woman candidate and potentially even more.

I think recent studies have shown that the public actually trusts women candidates more than men.

David: As voters, if you think things are a mess, maybe it is time to take a hard look at who you are voting for and what they have been doing for you up until now.

I'm David Cruz, NJ Spotlight News.

Joanna: Well, the school year is well underway, but some visitors are still struggling to get their kids to and from school.

The bus driver shortage that has plagued the state for the last few years is not getting any better.

Even with increased pay and benefits, districts still are not able to fill those gaps.

Transportation reporter for "the record," Colleen Wilson, has been reporting on the issue, and she joins me now.

Colleen, thank you for joining us.

When it comes to the bus driver shortage in New Jersey, Districts are competing with in the same shrunken pool.

Where are they?

Colleen: that is a good question, and it is not something we really have the answer for.

The private company owner that I spoke to about this had the same question, and I think part of the answer is that competition for drivers is at an all-time high, between Amazon, FedEx, UPS, rideshare services, and many other transit operators are looking for and clamoring for people with commercial driver's licenses.

So buses fall into those categories as well, as far as having a dearth of drivers to fill their needs.

Joanna: What are the things that make bus driver license is different is they are more stringent.

Talk us through what it is required to become a school bus driver in the state.

Colleen: You have to have additional endorsements, additional background checks and information, just a more thorough process, basically, not to mention additional training.

You have to be able to identify and have a vast knowledge of the way a bus works and its engine parts, you know, the process can take three months to six months.

Is a long time for what can oftentimes be a part-time job.

That can help explain why the pool of drivers is so small it is hitting the school bus industry so hard.

Joanna: You reported something, which is that there are companies we know who are known to have put out drivers who are not really credentialed -- properly conv credentialed, who may have a criminal background, its wizards are hiring some of these drivers.

Explain the state's role in overcoming this.

Colleen: This is a problem that has been going on for a while.

It predates the pandemic, which exacerbated the shortage of drivers.

There's two types, you have a lot of family owned, you know, multigenerational companies who try to do the right thing, who don't cut corners, but then you have a lot of bad actors who come in, who see, you know, state money, taxpayer money, big contracts available, and they go for those.

They can put in a low bid and higher suspect -- hire suspect people.

We have seen this over and over again.

The USA Today network in New Jersey, I was part of that team that really highlighted that.

Joanna: The state did pass three laws to create better oversight and yet we don't have that happening yet.

What is slipping through the cracks here?

Colleen: Yeah.

It's a great question.

The state of education, by law, was supposed to create the office of school bus safety, one of the new laws that was passed, and they have not done it.

It has gone unexplained Wyatt -- why an office so critical to school safety, the children safety, has not been made a bigger priority and is in a bigger hiring push to get those jobs filled.

Joanna: It always becomes a major priority when something goes wrong.

Colleen Wilson, transportation reporter for Northjersey.com, thank you.

Great reporting.

Colleen: Thank you for having majored Joanna: Tito New Jersey hospitals have for having me.

Joanna: Two New Jersey hospitals have reinstated mask mandates.

Cape Regional Medical Center in the Cape May County and Shore Medical Center, located in Somers Point, both pointing to rising rates of COVID.

At Shore Medical Center, all staff and visitors are required to wear a mask.

At Cape regional, all emergency rooms visitors and patients must be masked, and both hospitals are limiting the numbers.

The department of health is urging New Jerseyans to get the Covid vaccine, which is expected to be available this week.

In our spotlight on business report tonight, The pharmacy chain Rite Aid is shutting its doors on 3 New Jersey locations and another 105 are at risk in -- of closing.

The move comes in the wake of reports that The pharmacy giant is planning to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Filing for bankruptcy could protect rite aid from an onslaught of opioid accusations that onslaughts that alleged company was overpaying for painkillers.

They had a loss in the first quarter of 2023 compared to last year's net loss of $110 million.

If the company does file for bankruptcy, nearly 400 stores would close nationwide.

Here's a look at how the markets closed as the Fed prepares for another possible interest rate hike this week.

♪ That is going to do it for us tonight, but don't forget to download the NJ Spotlight News podcast, so you can join us any time.

I am Joanna Gagis.

For the entire NJ Spotlight News team, thanks for being with us, have a great night, and we will see you back here tomorrow.

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