Here's the stories you'll be talking about on the New Jersey 101.5 Morning Show on Thursday:

🔗 Protestors continue to clash with ICE in Newark

Federal officials and protest organizations are painting a vastly different picture of what occurred overnight.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said "anti-ICE rioters" attacked ICE agents and sprayed them with an unknown chemical substance. He says the two people arrested assaulted federal officers.

The group 'Eyes on ICE,' which has been coordinating part of the protests claims it was ICE officers who first attacked the crowd. Member Kathy O'Leary told NJ.com ICE agents would regularly "come out of the facility and pepper spray people and go back in.”

O’Leary says she and other members of the group will return to protest again on Thursday.

🔗 Trump calls Newark ICE protesters 'paid' at Delaney Hall

☑️President Trump said Newark ICE protesters outside Delaney Hall are being paid
☑️Homeland Secretary Mullin said only a "handful" of detainees are on a hunger strike
☑️Trump praised New Jersey police but said state policy limits help for ICE

NEWARK — The protesters outside the Delaney Hall ICE detention center are paid and only a "handful" of detainees are part of a hunger strike, according to Trump administration officials who said New Jersey police "love him."

During a cabinet meeting at the White House on Wednesday, U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said that those participating in the hunger strike at the ICE detention facility are refusing to eat because they want food from their native country.

"They can go back to the country and get whatever food they want. The fact is we're giving them the calories they want. This isn't (the) Holiday Inn. We're giving them sanitation," Mullin said.

ICE has often said that remaining detained is a choice and that those being held are free to self-deport.

President Donald Trump called the protesters outside the Newark facility "paid for protesters" because of the signs are they are holding. The president said they are all made at the same "beautiful factory," and do such a good job he may hire them. Mullin said that Antifa signs were also being held.

The president praised New Jersey police as "phenomenal" but lamented that they are not able to help ICE agents under most circumstances. Under the state's Immigrant Trust Directive, local police may not assist ICE agents except when enforcing criminal laws.

"They love this administration more than any administration they've ever had, and they're thanking me all the time. I see those guys going up and down the Jersey Turnpike with their big beautiful hats on and I say 'I'd like to look like that someday,'" Trump said. "They love the Border Patrol, and they're not allowed to talk to anybody. It's like, but it all comes from the time they have to follow orders, they want to keep their jobs."

🔗 International flights could be halted at Newark Airport

As part of the ongoing fight over immigration policy with Gov. Mikie Sherrill's administration, President Donald Trump's Homeland Security Secretary dropped a bombshell Tuesday.

Sec. Markwayne Mullin suggested he is looking into a plan to halt international flights at Newark Liberty International Airport.

On Fox News, Mullin questioned why Immigration and Customs Enforcement should continue to process international arrivals when the Sherrill administration is so opposed to ICE operating in New Jersey.

"In these sanctuary cities where the local radical left Democrats aren't allowing us to do our job and enforce federal laws, Mullin said, "Then we shouldn't be processing international flights into their cities either."

Mullin says his agency is "currently drawing up plans."

Those statements immediately drew sharp criticism from New Jersey's Democratic congressional delegation, many of whom have joined protesters at the ICE detention facility in Newark known as Delaney Hall.

Rep. Rob Menendez (D-8) called it the dumbest plan he has ever heard. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman wrote on X, "Help us abuse these black and brown people and line the pockets of our private prison donors or I will crash the airline and tourism industries is quite a demand."

🔗 NJ to crack down, not ban, data centers spiking electric bills

⚡ Gov. Mikie Sherrill wants new data centers to pay for their own power and grid upgrades.
➡️ Governor advocates for 'guardrails,' not a moratorium on data center projects.
🔴 Environmental groups and residents worry that new projects also strain water resources and produce pollution.

TRENTON — New Jersey officials will focus on stopping data center projects from hooking up to the existing electric grid and spiking average ratepayers’ bills.

A Wednesday announcement from Gov. Mikie Sherrill was far from a halt or moratorium on data center construction, which has been the goal of a growing number of worried residents and environmental advocates.

“Today’s data centers sometimes use 300 megawatts, enough to power entire towns. That skyrocketing demand is outpacing supply and jacking up all of our electric bills,“ Sherrill said. “Not on my watch, not on your backs.”

Sherrill was joined by two Democratic lawmakers, a Republican mayor, and officials from the New Jersey Chapter of the Sierra Club and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 102.

The unified front appeared to be aimed at quelling the recent flare-up of public criticism of new data center construction.

Vociferous objections recently derailed a potential proposal in Sussex County’s Andover Township.

“We are ready to innovate, to power the jobs of the future. We can’t do that if we let bad actors drain our resources and stick our communities with the bill,” Sherrill said from a podium bearing a sign that read, “Guardrails on Data Centers.”

“But, if we work together; if we make sure that data centers pay their fair share, operate transparently, engage with our communities — we can lower costs and open the doors of opportunity for everyone,” she said.

Sherrill said her administration will work with lawmakers to require data center operators to bring their energy to the grid, “contracting with their own power generators and paying for the grid upgrades needed to handle the larger load.”

🔗 NJ, NY investigate FIFA over World Cup ticket complaints

⚽New Jersey and New York are investigating FIFA’s World Cup ticket sales practices
⚽Fans reported tickets were moved to different seating zones with higher prices
⚽NJ officials also clashed with FIFA over NJ Transit fares

New Jersey’s uneasy relationship with FIFA and the World Cup continues as Attorney General Jennifer Davenport opens an investigation into the organization’s ticketing practices, including complaints that some seats were not where buyers expected.

The joint investigation with New York Attorney General Letitia James will look into reports that fans were “misled” about the location of tickets purchased not just for the eight games at MetLife Stadium but across all 11 World Cup venues.

For New Jersey residents already frustrated by high costs tied to the World Cup, the investigation adds another flashpoint to growing tensions over whether fans and taxpayers are being treated fairly as the massive international event approaches.

Officials said FIFA may have also driven prices higher through its press statements and ticket releases.

Fans say FIFA reassigned ticket categories and raised prices
Among the reported complaints are that FIFA, which initially divided seats in the venues into four zones called categories, later reassigned them, increasing prices for some tickets.

FIFA has not publicly responded to the accusations outlined by the attorneys general.

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