On January 20th, 2026 Patrick Barry, a representative from the Office of New Americans, came to speak to the CRI Immigration Committee. Patrick talked about the creation of this agency and the work that it does. He distinguished between Immigrants, Asylum Seekers, and Refugees. He talked about how 24% of the people in NJ are considered immigrants and how immigrants pay $40 Billion in taxes each year into the coffers of the New Jersey government.

Patrick was followed by Brenda A from the Camden City School System. She talked about the challenges for students, teachers, and community members now that ICE is active in Camden. Brenda’s presentation was spell binding and everyone in the audience was moved to action based on what is happening in our community.

After Brenda spoke the meeting broke up into work sessions and people volunteered for different positions.