Rep. Analilia Mejia marks 100 days in office as another election nears

Rep. Analilia Mejia described her first 100 days in Congress in one word: jarring.

“One would think that in such a space, there would be more discussion, there would be a genuine debate on issues that are of such importance, like the lives of American people we send abroad to fight in wars or how affordable housing, healthcare, gasoline is for everyday American families,” Mejia told the New Jersey Monitor. “It’s been jarring to see that it’s not.”

Mejia, a Democrat and former union organizer, won the special election for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District in April following her surprise win in a crowded Democratic primary against some opponents who had support from the district’s establishment Democrats.

Since taking office on April 20, she said she’s co-sponsored more than 80 bills, including Medicare for All and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, along with legislation aimed at universal childcare and revamping the Supreme Court by establishing term limits for justices and enforcing a code of ethics.

She touted a task force she launched centered on the 14th Amendment as one of her signature efforts. President Donald Trump’s attempt this year to argue the amendment does not guarantee citizenship to children born in the United States to parents who aren’t citizens was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court last month.

But she said the accomplishment she’s proudest of is less about legislation and more about her constituent outreach: telephone town halls, in-person meetings, and regular updates keeping the district’s residents informed about her time in Congress.

“I’ve tried to think about what I wanted or what I want as a constituent, which is information, transparency and explanation on votes, and integrity,” she said. “That’s what I’ve tried to deliver to the people of my district.”

The district was formerly represented by Mikie Sherrill (D), who resigned from Congress last year to become governor.

Mejia was sharply critical of Trump’s immigration policy and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during her campaign earlier this year. When Newark migrant jail Delaney Hall became a national flashpoint within weeks of Mejia’s swearing-in — detainees said they launched a hunger strike over conditions inside — Mejia made frequent visits to the facility with other members of Congress. She said she came away alarmed with what she found, including detainees cramped during meals before dawn and detainees with chronic illnesses who lacked medical attention.

Mejia, who is the second Latina to represent New Jersey in Congress, said people “don’t have to speak Spanish or identify as an immigrant to feel the humanity and reject the chaos.”

“The bottom line is that we need to ensure that the facilities that our U.S. government are utilizing not only meet the needs of individuals, but that we’re not incentivizing the long-term detention of people who would be best served in the community,” she said.

Mejia is running for reelection in November against the same Republican she faced in April’s special election, Randolph Councilman Joe Hathaway. That election is for the two-year term that begins in January.

In an interview, Hathaway criticized Mejia’s response to the Delaney Hall unrest, saying her visit to the facility during Memorial Day weekend was used to “stoke the flames of rioters” and to make social media videos to placate her “radical base.” That weekend, federal immigration agents fired pepper balls at protesters rallying outside the facility.

“Before she was a congresswoman, she would have been out there because she’s an activist. That’s what she does,” he said. “That is not what we need in Congress.”

Hathaway argued that her record shows she’s governed as an ideological activist rather than a pragmatic, bipartisan legislator.

“For the people of NJ-11, her term has been a complete and abject failure — an F in all ways,” he said. “When you look at the legislation she’s supported, it falls right in lockstep with these radical socialist candidates. She’s paving the way for what we see in New York and Colorado with these anti-law enforcement, anti-government socialists.”

Mejia dismissed the attacks as personal rather than substantive.

“It just shows that because Joe Hathaway has no legs to stand on, he defaults to name-calling. I’m a mom with two kids. I’m familiar with it, and I see it for what it is,” she said.

She also pushed back on the idea that she’s governing from the left, pointing to her support of the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, a new law that creates competitive grant programs for towns to increase housing supply, cuts regulatory red tape, and restricts large institutional investors from buying single-family homes.

“My opponent is content to raise costs by following Donald Trump in this illegal war, in eliminating energy tax credits, in fighting against affordable housing,” she added. “I’m trying to ensure that our Constitution is upheld.”