When it comes to immigration practices, the Trump administration has set its sights firmly on New Jersey.
From the first ICE raids of the new administration to the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and charges against U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-10th) earlier this month, the federal Department of Justice has already been aggressive. And now it is suing four of the state’s largest cities and their governing bodies for their so-called “sanctuary city” policies. The four cities are Newark, Jersey City, Paterson and Hoboken.
Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla said the claims are groundless: “There is no evidence or even evidence asserted that the Hoboken Police Department is doing anything to impede, interfere or obstruct any operations, whatsoever, of the federal government.”
Local police in New Jersey function under the Immigrant Trust Directive of 2018, a set of guidelines that limit the sharing of citizenship status and other information in many police-community interactions. But progressive and other activist groups have been calling for the directive to be codified into state law, and Democrats who control the Legislature have moved slowly on the proposal.
“What’s really worrying is that we are in the midst of a [election] primary, and we have some candidates who say they would support the Immigrant Trust Act and hope that it’s implemented before they even get into office,” said Amy Torres of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice.
“And then we have others, including those the polls say are leading candidates, who say they don’t want to support the Immigrant Trust Act, because it might get litigated,” she said.
