Racist flyers be damned: A South Asian landslide in New Jersey polls

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Ravi Bhalla thanks his supporters who helped him get elected as Hoboken's mayor.

WHOEVER paid for those racist flyers against Asian American candidates in New Jersey wasted their money. The targeted candidates won their elections in a rebuke of the xenophobes.

Ravi Bhalla scored another "first" last night (Nov. 7) when he became the first Sikh/American to be elected mayor of Hoboken, N.J.

When he was elected to the Hoboken City Council, he was the first Sikh/American to win elected office in the state.

"Thank you for having faith in me, for having faith in our community, faith in our state, and faith in our country; this is what America is all about," he told his family and supporters. "We've been through a bruising campaign ... but now is the time we come together and see who we can work with to bring this city forward."

City Councilman Bhalla has emerged victorious in the six-person mayoral race, becoming the first Sikh mayor of the Mile Square City -- and the state of New Jersey.

He overcame a last-minute racist flyer that hit Hoboken streets over the weekend linking him to terrorism.

Bhalla won by gaining support beyond the small Asian/American population, which made up only 8% of Hoboken's population. He was endorsed by current Mayor Dawn Zimmer.

A couple of days before the racist flyers against Bhalla were sent out, Edison Board of Education candidates Falguni Patel and Jerry Shi were targeted with similar flyers saying they should both be deported.

Both Patel and Shi won their respective seats for a two-year term on the Board of Education. Shi got 5,173,  and Patel received 4,979 votes. However, other candidates Aqib Virani and Sunil Vuppula lost. 

For South Asians in New Jersey, the off-year election was historic. In a single day, preceded by months of campaigning, the face of the state's political scene changed.

Democrat Samip "Sam" Joshi won an Edison Township Council seat for a four-year term

Vin Gopal

In one of the most expensive and closely watched race in New Jersey, in one of the biggest upsets of the night, Democrat Vin Gopal  unseated incumbent GOP candidate Sen. Jennifer Beck for the right to represent the 11th senatorial district where Indian/Americans made up onlly 1 percent of the population.  Gopal's victory was helped with a definite anti-Trump mood in blue state New Jersey.

The 11th legislative district covers 18 towns in Monmouth County, including Asbury Park and Freehold.

Democrats further solidified their hold on the state legislature. Assemblyman Raj Mukerjee of District 33, a Democrat, held onto his seat. However, Republican Deepak Malhotra of District 19 and Democrat Nirav Patel of District 12 lost their bid for an Assembly seat.

In the Middlesex County Freeholders race, Democrat Shanti Narra won a one-year unexpired term, but Republican Priti Pandya-Patel was not as successful.

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Stockton couple Indicted on human trafficking charges

A HUSBAND AND WIFE were indicted for human trafficking. Most of the victims were from India and other countries of south Asia.

Satish Kartan, 43, and his wife, Sharmistha Barai, 38, of Stockton, Calif, were indicted by a Stockton grand jury Nov. 21 for forced labor and conspiracy to commit forced labor. Kartan was also charged with fraud in contacting foreign labor and Barai was also charged with benefiting from forced labor.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert of the Eastern District of California announced the indictment, which is merely an allegation and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. 

According to court documents, between Feb. 21, 2014, and Oct. 3, 2016, Kartan and Barai hired workers from overseas to perform domestic labor in their homes in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Stockton and elsewhere in the United States. 

In advertisements seeking workers on the internet and India-based newspapers, the defendants made false claims regarding the wages and the duties of employment. Once the workers arrived at the defendants’ residences, Kartan and Barai forced them to work 18 hours a day with limited rest and nourishment. The defendants did not pay wages and used force, physical restraint and coercive conduct to get the workers to perform the labor and services.

The indictment alleges that the couple struck one worker on multiple occasions, including one incident where Kartan grabbed her hands and caused them to be burned over the flames of a gas stove. 

On Oct. 21, Kartan and Barai were arrested on a criminal complaint and were released on bond with special conditions that prohibit them from hiring any nonrelatives to perform domestic services or child care work for them. The defendants are also prohibited from directly or indirectly contacting any of their prior domestic workers.

The couple is facing allegations of human trafficking and an indictment does not mean that they have been found guilty of the crime.

If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.