Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) signed three new bills into law regulating the activities of federal immigration officers in New Jersey.
The three bills aimed at curbing the influence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Garden State are the latest steps Sherrill has taken to buck President Donald Trump‘s immigration enforcement agenda.
“We’re not going to allow mass federal agents to terrorize our state,” Sherrill said during a Wednesday bill signing. “I can’t believe we have to say this, but in the United States of America, we’re not going to tolerate mass roving militias pretending, pretending, to be well-trained law enforcement agents.”
The three bills ban ICE officers from wearing masks, restrain state agencies from indiscriminately sharing residents’ immigration status, and codify a state Attorney General directive limiting the degree to which local law enforcement has to collaborate with federal immigration officers.
“Donald Trump’s untrained, unaccountable, masked ICE agents are putting people in danger. That’s why in New Jersey, we are protecting our communities — strengthening our protections, banning ICE agents from wearing masks, and protecting residents’ privacy from federal overreach,” Sherrill said.
Sherrill’s actions mark a deviation from her Democratic predecessor, former Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ), who vetoed similar versions of two of the same bills — regarding the sharing of immigration status and the AG directive — that Sherrill signed.
The set of bills fully passed the state legislature this week with heavy pushback from Republican representatives in the chambers. A crowd of nearly 100 people gathered in front of the statehouse before the chambers voted on final passage in protest of the bills meant to restrict Trump’s immigration agenda.
The AG directive bill and the data sharing bills passed each legislative chamber along partisan lines, though several members of each party did not vote. One Republican Senator and one Republican Assemblyman deviated from their parties to vote for the mask ban, while two Democratic Senators and multiple Assemblymen from both parties did not vote on the bill.
Republican State Senator Jim Holzapfel spoke specifically on the bill that will codify the 2018 Attorney General’s directive limiting the extent local law enforcement have to collaborate with federal immigration officers. He said, “every time Democrats put ideology over public safety, we see the same result — chaos.”
“Any bill that limits cooperation between local law enforcement and federal authorities raises serious public safety concerns,” Holzapfel said.
Sherrill, who ran on a platform that hammered home her plans to address New Jerseyans affordability concerns, has weighed in on ICE operations throughout her first three months as governor.
Sherrill has moved to create a statewide database where residents can upload videos of federal immigration enforcement and has spoken out against plans for ICE detention centers in the state. She has also moved to curb federal law enforcement activity on certain state properties, which the DOJ subsequently filed a lawsuit over.
