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A PUSH TO EXPAND THE RIGHTS OF IMMIGRANTS IN DEFIANCE OF TRUMP
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Tracey Tully
January 12, 2026
The New York Times
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_ An effort by New Jersey Democrats is seen as a provocative
statement of principle in a state with the country’s second largest
percentage of immigrants, after California. _
A vigil is held outside the gates of Delaney Hall immigration
detention center in Newark, N.J., after the death of Renee Good.,
Dakota Santiago for The New York Times
Democrats in New Jersey — emboldened by convincing wins in November
— passed a trio of bills on Monday designed to expand migrant
rights, an effort seen as a defiant statement of principle in a state
with the country’s second largest percentage
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of immigrants after California.
The Democrat-controlled State Legislature approved measures on the
last day of a two-year legislative term that will, if signed into law
by the governor, reinforce existing protections and make it more
difficult for federal agents to target undocumented immigrants for
deportation. The legislation has already drawn criticism from the
Trump administration, which has expanded deportation efforts across
the country over the past year.
The push comes months after immigration became a divisive issue in the
governor’s race.
Mikie Sherrill, New Jersey’s Democratic governor-elect, assiduously
avoided taking a clear position during the campaign on the state’s
Immigrant Trust Directive, a policy enacted in 2018 to limit how much
help local law enforcement officers can offer federal immigration
agents. At the time, her Republican opponent, Jack Ciattarelli, was
vowing to repeal the directive
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on Day 1 as he tried to appeal to voters supportive of President
Trump’s efforts to increase deportations.
The conversation gained new intensity last week after a federal
immigration agent shot and killed Renee Good, a U.S. citizen, during
an enforcement action in Minnesota, a death several lawmakers cited
before casting votes.
“We recognize we have no ability to direct ICE,” said Nedia Morsy,
director of Make the Road New Jersey, an immigrant rights group
supportive of the package of legislation. “But we can make it very
clear that New Jersey has consistently been committed to honoring
people’s due process rights, and it’s important that legislators
are taking this moment to underline that commitment.”
In November, the Democrats’ already large majority in the Assembly
grew even more formidable as voters overwhelmingly rejected Mr.
Ciattarelli
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who was endorsed by Mr. Trump and who embraced much of the
president’s far-right ideology
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during the campaign.
The leader of the State Assembly, Craig Coughlin, represents a
district that abuts Edison, a diverse suburb where two of the
region’s largest warehouse immigration raids
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took place, leading to the detention of 49 workers. He said he had
become acutely aware of immigrant families too frightened to show up
at places like food pantries and hospitals.
“I became convinced, candidly, that too many people were living in
fear and that it was denying them the dignity of a normal life,” Mr.
Coughlin said in a brief interview.
“We wanted to stand up for people who were afraid,” he added.
Monday’s votes came a week after a White House spokeswoman first
criticized the bills
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in a statement that urged the Legislature to protect “law-abiding
citizens, not the criminal aliens who kill them.”
Versions of the legislation have languished in the Legislature for
years, but were fast-tracked days before Ms. Sherrill is set to take
over
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as governor on Jan. 20.
To be enacted, the three bills would need to be signed into law by the
outgoing Democratic governor, Philip D. Murphy. He could also issue a
conditional veto, requesting specific amendments before Tuesday at
noon.
One bill
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would give the guidelines contained in the Immigrant Trust Directive
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attorney general, Gurbir Grewal, the force of law, making it harder
for a future administration to undo. A second piece of legislation
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would require the state to write “model policies” to protect the
rights of New Jersey residents at sensitive locations, including
schools, courthouses, shelters, jails and health care facilities.
Under the bill, the state would be expected to provide instruction to
employees of these so-called safe spaces about when and where federal
agents are permitted to enforce civil immigration laws — and when
and where they are not.
A third bill
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would safeguard personal information held by health care facilities
and government agencies, including the Department of Motor Vehicles,
and limit its release to federal authorities. Undocumented immigrants
have been able to obtain driver’s licenses
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in New Jersey since 2019, leaving details about their personal lives
vulnerable to scrutiny by federal immigration authorities.
“While we cannot solve this on our own, we have a duty to the
residents of New Jersey to do all that we can to protect them,” said
a Democratic assemblywoman, Ellen Park, who arrived in the United
States with her family as a 6-year-old and who sponsored two of the
three bills.
A spokesman for Ms. Sherrill said that she would not comment on
pending legislation, but noted that she had indicated support for the
goals of the Immigrant Trust Directive.
Republicans rejected the legislation as misguided.
“This bill ties the hands of law enforcement,” Assemblyman Gerry
Scharfenberger, a Republican from Middletown, said of the trust
directive. “This is also another legislative attempt to further
entrench the costly status of New Jersey as a sanctuary state, costing
taxpayers millions of dollars.”
Mr. Trump made significant inroads in New Jersey in 2024, winning more
votes than his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Kamala
Harris, in more than half
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of the state’s counties. But his administration’s immigration
policy has been particularly contentious in the state.
Soon after taking over, the Trump administration authorized a $1
billion contract with a private prison company to reopen Delaney Hall,
a 1,000-bed jail near Newark Liberty International Airport, as a
migrant detention facility.
In May, Newark’s mayor, Ras J. Baraka, and the city’s
congresswoman, LaMonica McIver, were charged with crimes stemming from
a brief but volatile clash with federal agents. The next month, four
men escaped
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through a flimsy wall at Delaney Hall during unrest over meager food
portions and crowded conditions
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The charge against the mayor was dropped, but Ms. McIver’s case is
moving toward trial
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Immigrant rights advocates had pressed to not only enshrine the
Immigrant Trust Directive into law, but to also add protections for
undocumented migrants with final orders of removal from the United
States; that effort was sidelined in the Senate after a lengthy
hearing last week filled with impassioned pleas from immigrants.
During the hearing, Sen. Bob Smith, a Democrat, said
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that the amended bills were a necessary and appropriate response to
what he called “atrocities” by immigration agents, including the
shooting death of Ms. Good in Minneapolis.
“This is the kind of thing that has to be done for us to get America
back and to get it working and for people to be respected and not to
have masked police forces hurting people,” he said.
_Tracey Tully is a reporter for the New York Times who covers New
Jersey._
* immigrant rights
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* New Jersey
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* legislation
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