The following article, published in the Trentonian newspaper on AJune 26, was written by State House reporter Anthony Campasi. A battered Trenton police force is getting some help from the federal government, which announced Monday that it would help the city rehire 12 officers. The federal grant, totaling a bit more than $3 million, is meant to help cover the cost of rehiring the officers for three years. Trenton is one of more than 220 cities and counties across the country that is getting a s... Read more

A $3 million federal grant has been awarded to the City of Trenton, Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) announced today. The Department of Justice COPS Office, which runs the COPS Hiring Program (CHP), awards the grants to create and/or preserve law enforcement jobs. “This federal grant will help improve safety and put police officers back on the streets of the capital of New Jersey,” said Smith. “We hope this offsets some of the personnel reductions experienced by the city’s police force. Trenton c... Read more

The Obama Administration’s failure to hold China accountable for its atrocious human trafficking violations in this year’s annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report was called “shameful” and a “dereliction of duty” by Chris Smith, the lawmaker who wrote the first-ever U.S. law to combat trafficking in 2000 and whose law created the annual report with its tier ranking system (Public Law 106-386). Read more

U.S. Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the House panel that oversees international human rights, met with high-level Bolivian government officials in the capital city of La Paz to advocate on behalf of American businessman Jacob Ostreicher, held in Bolivia for over a year without formal charges and without bail at the dangerous Palmasola prison. Smith met with officials, including Bolivian Minister of Government Carlos Romero and Minister of Justice Cecilia Luisa Ayllon, as well as V... Read more

American businessman Jacob Ostreicher, held in Bolivia for over a year without formal charges and without bail at the dangerous Palmasola prison run by inmates, was visited by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the House panel that oversees international human rights. Smith accompanied Ostreicher to a hearing Monday that was beset by irregularities, including Bolivian government officials challenging the judge’s authority and threatening to take actions against him if the hearing continu... Read more

As his case meanders through the Bolivian justice system, an American businessman imprisoned there for a year without formal charges is finding support from a leading human rights advocate in the U.S. Congress. Jacob Ostreicher, a 53-year-old flooring contractor from Brooklyn, New York, has been held at the notorious Palmasola prison in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, since June 2011 on suspicions of money laundering. Ostreicher and his family have claimed from the beginning that he is innocent, and presen... Read more

Para reporteros internacionales, en especial periodistas en Bolivia, por favor haga clic aquí para la versión en español. (The above Spanish translation was provided by the United States Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia.) Read more

— A Lakewood, N.J., woman tearfully begged lawmakers at a congressional hearing Wednesday to help free her father Jacob Ostreicher, who is imprisoned in Bolivia. Chaya Weinberger said the situation of her father, an Orthodox Jew who has been on a hunger strike since Passover ended in April, is “life threatening” and urgent intervention is needed. “He is on the verge of collapse, both mentally and physically,” Weinberger said. “We beg of you, Congress and the U.S. State Department, help us now. I... Read more

The plight of American businessman Jacob Ostreicher--held in Bolivia for over one year without formal charges and without bail at a dangerous prison run by inmates--was likened to “state-sponsored kidnapping” at a human rights hearing chaired today by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04). The congressional panel Smith chairs gave voice to his desperate wife and daughter, and heard testimony from a former federal law enforcement agent familiar with the case. “Today, we are undertaking the sobering task ... Read more

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), chairman of the House panel that oversees international human rights, will chair a congressional hearing Wednesday on the case of American Jacob Ostreicher, who has been held without formal charges in Bolivia since June 2011. Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson is in Cochabamba, Bolivia for a meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) General Assembly taking place from June 3-5. She has been invited to testify at Smith’s June 6 hearing, entitled... Read more