Bruce and Johnny sing the New Jersey solution — ‘Talk To Me’

Saturday night in Asbury Park, Bruce Springsteen joined Southside Johnny on stage at the Stone Pony. Among the songs they played was "Talk To Me," written years ago by Bruce and sung by Johnny. Forget "Born To Run," "Talk To Me" should be named the official New Jersey state song. Our lawmakers should be forced to listen and heed that directive.

The problem getting anything done in New Jersey is that our leaders don't talk to each other. It's so bad that Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick had to propose legislation forcing them to do so. They'll talk to the press, but not to each other.

Another great example where conversation could solve a major problem lies in our immigration problem. The ICE truck is coming soon to New Jersey and law enforcement is forced to act like Mister Softee, thanks to Attorney General Gurbir Grewal's "Immigrant Trust Directive." The directive limits the cooperation between the local police and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

It seems the reason for this, Grewal contends, is that local police officers are not immigration agents and those here illegally are less likely to report crimes or cooperate as witnesses if they think they are going to be rounded up. Because when you're committing a crime by sneaking into the country, it's good to know that certain police can't touch you. In Newark, they could actually be reported. Oh by the way, New Jersey is fighting the Trump administration over this.

Two men, elected sheriffs Shawn Golden in Monmouth and Robert Nolan in Cape May counties chose to cooperate and have received sternly worded letters from Division of Criminal Justice Director Veronica Allende for violating the directive.

This will come down to who's is bigger and New Jersey will lose. Can you name a state that has gone up against the federal government and won? This isn't marijuana, where they'll look the other way. This is about President Trump, who's very busy keeping us all working and not afraid to engage.

It's about law enforcement who's being given commands that go against everything they stand for, which is to enforce the law. It's also about the people of New Jersey who are at risk if just one of these "protected" people commits a crime against any of us.

What to do? First off, start talking. Why can't the AG and ICE work out some kind of arrangement on the grassroots level as to who will be picked up? Why can't congress knowing that these raids are coming work on some kind of immigration arrangement? Isn't that their job?

A wise old man named Sonny Hill, whom I used to do updates for at sports radio, put radio and life into perspective saying, "It's all about relationships." We never needed them more in New Jersey. It's time for our powers that be on both sides of the aisle to get into a room and as Bruce and Johnny sang "Talk to me until the night is over."

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