ICE is terrorizing immigrants—and being used as a tool to discipline labor. A witness in a wage theft case was detained. Immigrant warehouse workers face discrimination. Day laborers and street vendors are being targeted, and so are rapid response networks. My latest.

It's surprising that no other U.S. state has such strong requirements for affordable housing, despite all the many recent state-level housing and zoning reforms.

“Today, more than 400,000 New Jerseyans live in homes created through the Mount Laurel doctrine. Fifty years after the original ruling, it stands as one of the most durable and impactful examples of state constitutional law being used to confront structural inequality.”

Earlier this month, Passaic passed a new law that caps rent increases at 3% and ends vacancy decontrol.

Read more about the tremendous work by tenant organizers & @maketheroadnj.bsky.social to protect Passaic's residents from displacement and homelessness: www.nj.com/news/2025/09...

This is what is possible w/ state mandates for inclusion of a fair share of affordable housing, coupled w/ persistent enforcement. Not only inclusion on a building by building level, but town by town.
It doesnt just happen…

NEW: As the housing affordability crisis deepens, NJ's 1975 high court decision outlawing exclusionary zoning serves as a powerful model for other states. @jagdavies.bsky.social new piece explores one of the most compelling examples of state constitutional law being used to promote civil rights.

My new piece for @brennancenter.org's @statecourtreport.org looks at how New Jersey built the strongest statewide policy in the U.S. to *require* that every municipality create its fair share of affordable homes: statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

NEW: This year marks the 50th anniversary of the NJ Supreme Court's Mount Laurel decision outlawing exclusionary zoning in the state. Jag Davies @fairsharehousing.bsky.social gives a fascinating account of the groundbreaking ruling & long fight over enforcement. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

The best in the nation, thanks largely to the persistance of @fairsharehousing.bsky.social
As famous as the Mt Laurel doctrine is among affordable and fair housing advocates, if anything it is under appreciated recent advocates of zoning reform focused mostly on market rate housing and cities.

Thanks to NJ's new law strengthening the Mount Laurel Doctrine, far more towns are creating affordable housing than ever before.

Excellent reporting on NJ's affordable housing requirements — the strongest in the U.S. — by @roshanabraham.bsky.social for @nextcity.org & @shelterforce.bsky.social:

The truth is simple: affordable housing benefits everyone.

Yet too often, policymakers sabotage NJ's economic resilience by under-funding affordable housing & blocking developments — deciding who belongs, and who doesn’t.

Read Rev. Eric Dobson's op-ed: www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/story/opinio...

Tremendous work in Passaic by tenant organizers & @maketheroadnj.bsky.social to protect residents from displacement.

This ordinance caps rent increases at 3% and ends vacancy decontrol, which has let landlords raise rents without limits when units become vacant.

www.northjersey.com/story/news/p...

A new report shows a sharp increase in homelessness in NJ.

With federal cuts looming, state & local leaders must urgently prioritize building more affordable homes, strengthening tenant protections, and addressing the root causes of housing instability. www.njspotlightnews.org/2025/07/nj-h...

Appreciate this discussion. Drives home how zoning reform is *necessary but not sufficient* to fix the housing crisis. Even if Abundance types use it as a Trojan horse for a billionaire-friendly agenda, it's still needed—just insufficient w/out stronger tenant protections & public sector investment.

There might be an abundance of abundance discussions but this one is really special. It brings together expertise on the housing policy with the bigger question of a post-neoliberal agenda. Listen in!

Since we are in new round (it never ends) of what Dems ought to do while fascists power grab, a view from voters in our latest Research Collaborative/Data for Progress national survey (N=1199, July 18-20)
TLDR: Dems and independents want Dem candidate who fights for immigrant rights.

To understand how @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social won the mayoral primary by a full 12 points last month, it helps to understand how tenants like Ferdousi Begum and Parveg Hasan decided to go on the offensive against real estate.

My first for @nybooks.com, learned tons! www.nybooks.com/online/2025/...

Appreciate @inquest.bsky.social publishing this excerpt from my book Carceral Apartheid: How Lies and White Supremacists Run Our Prisons. @uncpress.bsky.social

New Jersey's senseless cuts to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund are penny-wise but pound-foolish. This is often the only source of funding for smaller, shovel-ready developments.

We're calling on Gov. Murphy & legislative leaders to restore the full funding. newjerseymonitor.com/2025/07/03/a...

The data is clear: fines and fees don’t deliver justice — they impose instability. ⛔

For decades, our state & local governments have relied on #FinesAndFees to fill budget gaps – extracting money from people drawn into our criminal, juvenile, traffic, and municipal courts. 🧵

When the Homeland Security funding from the new budget bill kicks in we are going to enter a fundamentally new era of unaccountable secret police that will change American politics and society for a long time.
www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/welcome-to...

If the GOP reconciliation bill passes, ICE gets through FY2029:

- $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion
- $14.4 billion for transportation and removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million
- $8 billion for hiring/retention
- Billions more.

NEW: Zohran Mamdani's multi-racial coalition toppled Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday. He won three of five boroughs, the renter class, & "middle income" residents; doing best overall with younger & less frequent voters.

My take on Mamdani's Mandate:
www.michaellange.nyc/p/the-zohran...

The job of a good message isn't to say what is popular. The job of a good message is to make popular what we need said.