For this Black History Month, we sat down with NJAIJ staff member Madison Linton, who just this month was named one of the 30 Under 40 Top Black Leaders of South Jersey by Front Runner New Jersey. Keep reading to learn more about Madison’s background, career aspirations, and experience as a young, Black policymaker.

Hi, my name is Madison Linton, and I serve as the Policy & Research Associate at the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. I am from Barnegat, New Jersey. 

At NJAIJ, I lead our State-level policy, which includes our two policy campaigns: the legislative fight for immigrant protections and language access implementation. I also handle outreach to elected officials on the State level, as well as press outreach and coordination. 

My favorite part of my work is amplifying the voices of our communities in the hallways of the State House, in legislative meetings, and in stakeholder meetings – to really make sure that the voices of those that are impacted the most are heard and that their needs are met. 

I started at the Alliance in July of 2024, following my graduation from Princeton. I actually stepped into the work through a program called the Garden State Fellowship, which focuses on increasing the capacity of policymakers in New Jersey and bringing young policy practitioners into the field to gain experience making and implementing equitable policy. 

Why NJAIJ? 

I wanted to work at the Alliance because, firstly, I do have a personal tie to immigration policy – my father is a first-generation immigrant from Jamaica – and secondly, I myself experienced racial profiling at the hands of federal immigration enforcement. As I was returning back to the U.S. from a research trip to South America that I took in college, I was removed from my plane and detained by Customs and Border Patrol. It really gave me a glimpse into the true fear that immigrant communities – not only in our state but around the country – are feeling right now and have been feeling for years. 

And what about your goals as a policy-maker more broadly?

Growing up mixed, I have always been super passionate about bridging people from different cultures, backgrounds, and languages, which has really informed and driven my career aspirations: to create sustainable, actionable, equitable, inclusive policies that are globally informed and human-centered. 

For years, the voices of marginalized communities have been completely excluded from the conversation, at the same time that those communities were being exploited the most by the systems that we've had in place. It's critical for us to ensure that their voices are leading the conversations that are going into how we create policy and making sure that it's leaving the intended effect on the communities around us. 

What do you see as the relationship between Black and immigrant justice?

The fights for Black empowerment and immigrant justice are so deeply intertwined – not only for the obvious reason that many immigrants are Black – but also because Black communities have been denied justice by governments all over the world using the same systems that have persecuted immigrant communities. 

Is there any advice you’d like to give others in the same boat as you – young, Black leaders in the policy & advocacy space?

I think one piece of advice that I have that maybe even goes beyond the policy space is to make them listen and be impossible to ignore. In my time engaging with elected officials and other stakeholders in government or the private sector, it was really difficult to be young and a person of color in those spaces. But If you continue to show up, continue to get your shit done, people will start to take notice of how determined you are, how driven you are, and how visible you are. So, yeah, showing up goes a long way. Being consistent in showing up goes a long way.

What’s your favorite hobby outside of work?

I feel like I've gained more hobbies recently… But primarily, my favorite hobby outside of work is weightlifting. 

Is there a statistic you can give me?

 I bench 135.