Montclair clergy, other Dream Act advocates arrested at Rep. Leonard Lance’s office

The leaders of two houses of worship in Montclair found themselves among six people arrested Monday afternoon after refusing to leave the Westfield office of Republican Rep. Leonard Lance.

The Rev. Ann Ralosky of First Congregational Church in Montclair confirmed to The Record and NorthJersey.com that she was arrested along with Rabbi Elliott Tepperman of B’nai Keshet, also in Montclair, and her First Congregational Church associate, Pastor John Rogers. Also arrested were Rabbi Faith Dantowitz of B’nai Abraham in Livingston, Kristin Peck, a member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Summit, and Nedia Morsy, an organizer at Make the Road New Jersey, an immigrant rights organization based in Elizabeth.

The Westfield Police Department would not comment on the arrests and referred questions to its Records Bureau, which was closed for the day.

Ralosky said the six had been among a small group of activists and religious leaders who gathered in front of Lance’s office calling on the Republican to vote for passage of a “clean Dream Act” this Thursday. Lance was not in the Westfield office when the gathering took place, Ralosky said.

However, John Byers, a spokesman for Lance, said the representative will meet with the clergy members at a time and location that's amenable to them and him.

“Congressman Lance has great respect for our state clergy and is happy to meet with the congregation at a time that is mutually convenient for both parties, as he has done with other religious leaders and groups on numerous occasions,” Byers said.

A proposed Dream Act would give legal status to 1.8 million undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. They would receive conditional residency and, upon fulfilling certain qualifications, permanent residency.

The Trump administration announced in September that it planned to end an Obama-era policy launched in 2012 known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, which so far has offered work permits and protection from deportation to nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children.

However, their status has been tied into Congress's passing a short-term spending bill, as the government is set to run out of money on Thursday. Legislative proposals by Republicans to provide protections while approving a spending bill have come with such attachments as funding for a wall along the United States/Mexico border and immigration enforcement measures like cutting the number of green cards issued.

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Ralosky said she and the five people who were arrested went into the office to read a letter to Lance’s staff calling on him to pass an unfettered Dream Act.

“We let them know that we weren’t going to be leaving until we got a commitment from the congressman, whether they could phone him or whatever it was, and they were not willing to do that,” Ralosky said. “So we stayed in the office, we sat down, we sang, we prayed, we chanted and we made ourselves very obnoxious in their office.

“Their office closed at 5, and we said we are not going to move, so they called the police.”

Ralosky said this was the first time she had been arrested, but said it was worth it.

“I have not done anything like this before, like this in terms of being willing to get arrested, but at some point you have to let your voice be heard,” Ralosky said.

Tepperman said he has been arrested for similar actions in the past, but took inspiration from the undocumented immigrants who spoke at the rally at Lance’s office.

“When they spoke, they spoke with tears in their eyes, and uncertainty about what they would do and the uncertainty about staying united with their families,” Tepperman said. “In that way, it was quite profound.”

The six are scheduled to appear in Westfield Municipal Court on Tuesday, Feb. 20, on charges of defiant trespassing, Ralosky said.

Email: kaulessar@northjersey.com