New Jersey’s upcoming Truth, Reconciliation, and Repair Act has drawn sharp criticism from a grassroots group that says reparations should be limited to direct descendants of enslaved people. The U.S. Freedmen Project, whose members identify as “Foundational Black Americans,” told Fox News Digital that recent illegal immigrants and non‑foundational Black Americans should not be included in any government reparations program.

Local leaders and activists voice concerns

Annette Wilcox, spokesperson for the Freedmen Project, explained, “You don’t give out remedies to people who haven’t experienced the harm. All of those policies—Commission on Racial Equity, Mayor’s Office on Equity and Justice—talk constantly about slavery, Jim Crow, redlining, convict leasing. Those were harms to a specific group of people. Then, when it comes time to give out resources, it’s going to everybody: underserved communities, people of color, immigrants, marginalized groups. You’re using one group’s history to give remedies to a wider group.”

Wilcox’s remarks came as New Jersey Democrats, including Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds‑Jackson and State Senator Angela McKnight, pushed the legislation that seeks to address wealth disparities stemming from historic slavery and systemic discrimination. The bill is informed by research from the New Jersey Reparations Council and aims to create a framework for state‑level reparative policies.

Legal and constitutional concerns

U.S. Freedmen Project president Devine Prince warned that conflating reparations with broader racial‑justice initiatives could invite costly legal challenges. “What we’re finding out from the left wing of the political spectrum is that they are conflating reparations with racial justice and social justice. All three are similar, but they are far from the same,” Prince said. “If people believe a rising tide lifts all boats, they are conflating repair for the badges and incidents of slavery with discrimination like not being able to catch a cab, or with the social justice of fair immigration policies.”

Prince added that any reparations policy that is not strictly lineage‑based is likely to be struck down under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. He cited the ongoing class‑action lawsuit against Evanston, Illinois, filed by the conservative watchdog Judicial Watch, which argues that the city’s race‑based eligibility criteria violate the Constitution.

Local testimony reflects demographic shifts

During a public hearing for the New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies at Hempstead High School on Long Island, residents echoed similar concerns. Aubrey Muhammad testified that the influx of recent illegal immigrants has strained resources in historically Black neighborhoods. “The Democrats, in a sick way, imported 25 million immigrants. And 70 % of them came into poor Black neighborhoods,” he said, noting that Hempstead’s demographic makeup has shifted dramatically over the past three decades.

U.S. Census data shows Hempstead’s population is now roughly evenly split between Black residents (43.2 %) and Hispanic or Latino residents (45.3 %). In 1990, the Hispanic share was about 14 %. Wilcox linked these changes to the socioeconomic challenges facing descendants of slavery, stating, “That’s why, frankly, I think we’re in the situation today, where descendants of slavery in the United States are at the bottom of just about every socioeconomic parameter.”

What the Freedmen Project proposes

The organization argues that true reparations must be lineage‑based and that broader social challenges deserve separate solutions. “There is a responsibility for any political entity to address its constituents directly and, more importantly, specifically—because that’s how true coalitions are built, not by cobbling people together and pretending they all have the same plight and political priorities,” Prince said.

While Prince called broader social‑justice initiatives “admirable,” he emphasized they should not hijack the legal definition of reparations. “Reparations, in the context we’re talking about, are only for those that were enslaved, emancipated, and then subject to the badges and incidents thereof. That is the American freedmen. Positioning it that way circumvents any legal challenge based on race,” he warned.

New Jersey lawmakers have not yet responded to requests for comment.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.