Children scream in terror as masked ICE agents drag man away—NJ Top News
Here's the stories you'll be talking about on the New Jersey 101.5 Morning Show.
🔗 The cost of living in NJ has exploded — these numbers are staggering
💰 The estimated annual cost of supporting a two-income NJ family with two children has jumped $40,800 since 2021.
🏠 Childcare costs have surged 57% in the typical NJ county, with Cumberland, Hudson and Essex experiencing even bigger increases.
📊 A new Rutgers-Eagleton poll finds most NJ residents struggle with everyday expenses, and the financial pressure is getting worse.
Politicians love talking about making New Jersey more affordable. Mikie Sherrill was elected as the "Affordability Governor."
For many, the results have been underwhelming.
But affordable for whom?
A retired couple living in a paid-off house? A single person renting an apartment? Or two working parents trying to pay the mortgage, buy groceries and cover childcare?
Affordability means something different to each of them.
Now, new research puts actual dollar amounts on what it takes to survive in the Garden State.
And the numbers are staggering.
According to the Living Wage Institute, the annual budget needed to support a New Jersey family with two working adults and two children has increased approximately $40,800 since 2021.
🔗 New Jersey schools targeted in nationwide swatting wave
🚨Howell, Middlesex and Wall Township schools received threatening calls Wednesday
🚨Police quickly responded and determined the threats were not credible.
🚨The swatting threats triggered lockdowns and a controlled dismissal in Howell
At least three New Jersey school districts were targeted by swatting threats Wednesday as similar calls disrupted schools across the country.
Howell police officers already working in every school directed students to shelter in place after the suspicious calls were received. Other officers arrived within two minutes and "saturated" the schools with their presence. A "controlled dismissal" was implemented even as the threats were considered non-credible.
Middlesex High School received a threatening call just before noon, prompting a lockdown, according to police. As police searched the building, several staff members received individual calls threatening the school.
Schools in Wall Township also received threats that police deemed not credible.
🔗 Children Scream as ICE Agents Arrest Man in Harrison
🚨 Chaotic ICE arrest: Video shows masked federal agents detaining a man in Harrison, Hudson County, as crying children desperately try to cling to him.
👶 Children caught in confrontation: A woman holding a baby and a young boy try to stop the arrest. An agent is seen throwing a teenage bystander to the ground.
🎥 Video sparks questions: The man's identity and immigration status remain unknown. ICE has not responded to requests for comment.
A chaotic immigration arrest in Hudson County has sparked controversy after video surfaced showing children screaming and crying as federal agents took a man into custody. The incident happened Wednesday morning outside the post office on Harrison Avenue in Harrison. Video recorded by bystanders shows two masked ICE agents attempting to place a handcuffed man into a black SUV while a woman holding a baby and a young boy desperately cling to him. A third child is seen collapsed on the sidewalk, crying. The children and the man being detained appear to be members of the same family.
As the confrontation escalated, several bystanders attempted to intervene. One person recording the incident pleaded with agents to consider the children. Moments later, another ICE vehicle arrived, and an agent was seen grabbing a teenage boy and throwing him to the ground. A fourth agent ordered the crowd to step back as the man was placed inside the SUV. His family members were left behind screaming and crying. The entire confrontation, captured in a video lasting just 88 seconds, drew emotional reactions from witnesses.
The identity of the man detained and his immigration status have not been released, and ICE has not publicly explained the circumstances surrounding the arrest. Harrison's mayor and town council have expressed concern for the children and family involved and asked the local school district to provide counseling and emotional support to affected students. ICE has not responded to media requests for comment. The incident comes amid reports that federal immigration officials have been directed to increase daily arrests by another 1,000 people as the Trump administration expands immigration enforcement.
🔗 NJ corrections officer will spend 3 years behind bars himself
🚔 A former Northern State Prison officer was sentenced to three years in state prison.
💵 Prosecutors said Christopher Santana took cash and digital payments from inmates to smuggle contraband.
🚬 Officers found vacuum-sealed tobacco bags and three bottles of unidentified liquid hidden beneath his clothing.
NEWARK — A corrections officer will spend his next three years in state prison on the other side of the bars.
Christopher Santana, 33, of Hackensack was sentenced in Superior Court in Essex County on Monday. Santana was forced to forfeit $4,500 in bribes he received and is barred from public employment, according to the Attorney General's Office.
In August, Santana pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy to commit bribery.
“Taking bribes to help inmates evade the very security measures he was responsible for enforcing is a fundamental betrayal of the badge — and of the public trust that comes with it,” Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said.
State prosecutors said Santana's bribery scheme began in May 2024. At the time, he was a senior correctional police officer at Northern State Prison in Newark. He took cash and digital payments from inmates to smuggle them contraband.
On June 10, 2025, Santana showed up for work at his scheduled time.
However, he never started his shift; other law enforcement officers noticed a "large bulge" under his clothes around his chest area. They searched Santana, and found two vacuum-sealed bags of tobacco and three bottles of an unidentified liquid hidden under his vest and near his upper thigh.
He lost his job a month later.
🔗 NJ ferry passengers hit with new $7 fuel surcharge
⛽ Rising fuel prices are adding $7 to every vehicle crossing on the Cape May-Lewes Ferry.
🚗 The surcharge applies per crossing and does not apply to passengers who walk onto the ferry.
💰 The surcharge is expected through Dec. 31, but could be removed if fuel prices return to previous levels.
CAPE MAY — Rising fuel prices are about to make a trip on the Cape May-Lewes Ferry more expensive.
The Cape May-Lewes Ferry will impose a $7 fuel surcharge on all vehicle fares per crossing due to rising fuel costs and volatility in the fuel market. The surcharge is expected to remain in effect through Dec. 31, and dos not apply to passengers who walk onto the ferry.
“Diesel fuel prices have risen significantly this year, and the Ferry was able to mitigate the majority of the fiscal impact on our operation this summer with hedging contracts,” said Director of Ferry Operations Heath Gehrke.
But with fuel hedges expiring, and no relief on the horizon, a tough decision was made to share some of the fuel cost increase with customers, Gehrke added.
Ferry fares won't include new fuel surcharge
Customers should keep in mind that published fares do not include the fuel surcharge.
🔗 NJ mayor was eating pizza when he suddenly couldn't breathe
🔴East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen began choking while eating pizza at a restaurant
🔴Friends at a nearby table quickly stepped in and performed the Heimlich maneuver
🔴The Red Cross says even untrained people can act during a choking emergency
EAST BRUNSWICK — A Central Jersey mayor's lunch was saved from becoming a tragedy when a friend stepped in after he began choking at a restaurant.
East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen said he was eating a slice of pizza Tuesday when he suddenly couldn't swallow.
"Luckily, help was a few tables away as my friends Tanya and Robert Hughes were eating lunch at the same time. They both jumped up and Robert did the Heimlich which worked like a charm," Cohen wrote.
Cohen, who is a doctor, said he had root canal surgery earlier that morning and believes the anesthesia had not completely worn off.
You don't have to be trained to help someone who is choking
Could someone who is not trained or certified have done the same thing? American Red Cross spokeswoman Marie Manning says yes.
"Even if you're an untrained person, you can absolutely perform abdominal thrusts and back blows," Manning said, using the Red Cross' description of the lifesaving move. "The Red Cross teaches both maneuvers because they're equally effective, but it may take more than one technique to clear the airway," Manning said.
Click the link to learn this life saving technique.
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Gallery Credit: Erin Vogt
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Gallery Credit: Mike Brant
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