By Ellen S. Wilkowe
As Hispanic Heritage Month begins today, Morristown Councilman David Silva is calling attention to the fear he says federal ICE raids have spread among immigrant families in town.
“Immigrants help shape America,” said Silva, founder and pastor of Centro Biblico Church in Morristown. “They are members of our community, they build our community and our country, and every wave of immigrants faces challenges, especially in the last two years.”
Silva delivered an impassioned defense of immigrants during a proclamation of Hispanic Heritage Month at last week’s town council meeting. The council also brought some celebratory news: After years without them, fireworks are returning to Morristown later this month for a new Living History Weekend, tied to America 250 celebrations.
Hispanic Heritage Month, which starts today, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, honors the “family, faith, hard work and service” of the Latino community, said Silva, the first Latino to serve on the Morristown council.
An immigrant from Colombia, Silva came to the United States 24 years ago to start the church he now leads on Abbett Avenue.
He pointed to what he described as a “broken” immigration system, blaming decades of unresolved border problems under both political parties for helping create conditions for illegal immigration.
“I always said that if we can send a man to the moon, why can’t we fix the border?” he said.
Silva said immigrants perform essential work while sometimes lacking the protections afforded to citizens.
“Industry depends on their labor and immigrants contribute to the economy. Who else is going to shovel snow for $15 an hour, and without the same protections as citizens?”
He also criticized recent federal immigration enforcement.
“They said they’d deport rapists, gangsters and murderers, but they’re also deporting workers and families based on racial profiling alone,” Silva said.
Since ICE raids began in Morristown, Silva said, fear has rippled through the community, with some people afraid to go to work or worship and children worrying whether their parents will be home after school.
He recounted the experience of an undocumented friend he called “Anna,” who he said was deported with family members to Honduras after passing through Delaney Hall and a detention center in Louisiana.
“She said she was humiliated by officers and when she tried to explain that she was leaving a child behind, they said they didn’t care — that they were just doing their jobs.”
Silva called for advocacy inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. and invoked the nationwide protests that followed the 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.
“We can disagree on policy and open borders but every person deserves dignity and respect,” he said. “An encounter with ICE in July cost two family members with work permits their lives. Where was the outrage?”
Morristown’s diversity, he suggested, does not automatically translate into integration. He likened the town to “a high school cafeteria made up of different groups.”
Silva hopes to bridge some of those divides through his church-sponsored Hope Fest, a “community integration” celebration scheduled for Sept. 19 from noon to 5 p.m. at Cauldwell Park.
FIREWORKS ARE BACK
The council also cleared the way for fireworks to return to Morristown after a years-long absence.
“Fireworks are back in Morristown,” said Councilman Nathan Umbriac. “And I’d like to thank Fire Chief (Robert Flanagan) for his assistance.”
Sponsored by Sanofi, the Sept. 26 display will be part of Living History Weekend, a three-day celebration tied to the nation’s 250th anniversary. The fireworks are being coordinated by the town, the Morristown Fire Department and the Morris County 250th Anniversary Steering Committee.
They are scheduled for Bishop Nazery Way. A time had not been announced.
Living History Weekend, Sept. 25-27, also will bring Revolutionary War reenactors and historical figures to the Morristown Green, along with special programs at historic sites. The weekend culminates Sunday with the Morristown Partnership’s annual Festival on the Green.
OTHER BUSINESS
The council also introduced an ordinance addressing fourth-round affordable housing requirements and approved $100,000 for sewer upgrades.
Grasshopper off the Green was less successful. The council rejected the restaurant’s requests for extended Sunday alcohol-service hours on Oct. 11, Nov. 1 and Dec. 26.
Shade Tree Commission Chair Kristin Ace, meanwhile, praised the town’s seasonal ban on gas-powered leaf blowers, which runs from Jan. 1 through Sept. 30.
“Spring and summer are finally quiet,” she said. “And I can finally smell the flowers now that the air is not laden with gasoline.”
Ace also sought volunteers to help plant nearly 2,000 native plant plugs at Jacob Ford Park on Oct. 11 at noon.
“We need volunteer help to get the meadow started before winter,” she said.
Other September events include a rabies clinic at town hall Sept. 19 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Cops and Rodders on Sept. 20 from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m.
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