Activists Ask Edison Mayor To Apologize For Comments On Migrant Buses

EDISON, NJ – During Thursday’s reorganization meeting, several residents, activists and members of faith groups called on Edison Mayor Sam Joshi to apologize for his comments on migrant buses stopping at the local transit center.

Speaking during the public comment section, the activists said Joshi’s comments were “disappointing” and indulged in “fear-mongering.”

“You are quick to profess your identity as a son of immigrants and proud to proclaim that Edison is 45 percent immigrant yet this past week you have engaged in a public fear-mongering campaign in the media about a mere two busloads of people that simply passed through your city of 109,000 people a few days ago. They never intended for Edison to be their final destination, yet you began falsely “raising the alarm” and stoking fear,” said Catalina Adorno of Movimiento Cosecha.

Adorno read from an open letter signed by several NJ faith-based and secular organizations.

Several buses from Texas arrived at various transit points in New Jersey recently including Edison, Secaucus, Trenton and Fanwood, in a bid to sidestep New York City’s recent order to limit arrivals.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams issued an executive order last week to limit when and how charter bus companies can drop off busloads of migrants.

The order requires a 32-hour notice and a five-day-a-week schedule. But rather than comply the buses from Texas started dropping off migrants in New Jersey communities.

Joshi said his administration sent back one bus as the township did not have resources to help migrants.

Dhruv Shah a resident of North Brunswick said as a member of the South Asian community, he was “disappointed to see” someone who “looked like him” indulge in exclusionary rhetoric.

“I’m very unsettled by Mayor Joshi’s rhetoric attacking the backgrounds of asylum seekers and taking talking points from the far right in this country,” Shah said.

“After his recent comments, I’m so disappointed that the Mayor is unable to empathize with asylum seekers and migrants who are leaving their homes in search of safety and greater opportunity just like my parents did.”

In a Facebook comment, Joshi said he instructed law enforcement and emergency management departments “to charter a bus to transport the illegal migrants right back to the southern Texas/Mexican border.”

He later told Patch that “Edison does not have the financial or social resources to house immigrants in hotels or provide other accommodations.”

An Edison resident asked Council members about their responsibilities when the Mayor was making despicable remarks and making the Township a “laughing stock.”

Councilwoman Margot Harris thanked everyone who came out to speak for immigrants and asylum seekers. She told the community that her grandparents came from Russia to escape persecution.

“They were not welcome. The Jewish immigrants, the Irish immigrants and Italian immigrants were not welcome. They were seen as other. And here we are all these years later and immigrants are still seen as other. It pains me to see that is still the situation,” Harris said.

“I am disappointed in the Mayor’s rhetoric about this. I think assumptions are being made about these people who are aspiring to escape their persecution, about the disease they may or may not be carrying, the weapons they may or may not be carrying.”

She wondered if it was worthwhile for the Council to form a subcommittee to discuss the current situation.

Councilman Ajay Patil too said he was disappointed in Mayor Joshi.

“The Mayor, who is the son of immigrants, I don’t think he understands what immigration means, otherwise he would not have given any statement in the media,” Patil said.

“I’m shocked that the Mayor would go to the extent of flip-flopping his statements... If you don’t understand immigration, stay out of it.”

Councilman Richard Brescher said after watching the Council meeting, Joshi would understand his mistake. He asked residents and activists to continue to hold Joshi accountable for his words.

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