Sherrill says new laws a reaction to ICE
By: Katie Sobko
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... Governor Mikie Sherrill signed three pieces of legislation into law on March 25 [2026] in an effort to "protect people of New Jersey, their constitutional rights and the rule of law."
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"In the past two months, we've watched poorly trained, masked ICE agents put communities across the country in danger," she said. "In this state, we have drawn a line."
..... A slew of sponsors for the bills attended a ceremony in Newark and spoke about the importance of the new laws and how they would help New Jersey stand on the right side of history.
..... "Do you remember reading the history books growing up? Wondering where people were during slavery and the Holocaust and wondering what the mentality was?" state Senator Britnee Timberlake asked.
..... "Now we have the opportunity to answer that question right her and right now. They will know that their mother, that their grandmothers, stood up during a dark time regardless of what ever the consequences were."
..... One of the bills would require law enforcement officers - both state and local and federal - working in New Jersey to have their faces showing when the interact withe public in an official capacity.
..... Officers also would need to present identification before detaining or arresting someone.
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According to the legislation, being dressed in a department-isued uniform bearing the agency insignia and showing a department-issued identification card with the officer's photograph and identifying information would be considered sufficient.
..... There would be a few exemptions on masks, such as during undercover assignments, for helaht reasons with a doctor's note, and for protection against smoke during a state of emergency.
..... Another bill would effectively codify the state attorney general's Immigrant Trust directive.
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The Immigrant Trust Directive was implemented by former New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal in 2018. It says state and local police cannot participate in federal immigration enforcement operations or keep someone detained only to comply with a civil immigration detainer request.
..... The directive includes exemptions if the immigrant is charged with or convicted of a "violent or serious offense" or subject to a final order of removal by a judge.
..... The last bill, known as the Privacy Protection Act, would limit health care facilities and government agencies from collecting personal information, including immigration status.
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Although the mask ban legislation has been a priority for Sherrill and didn't gain much traction in the last legislate session, iterations of the other two bills made it as far as then Governor Phil Murphy's desk in the days before his term ended. He opted to veto them during his last hours in office.
..... Sherrill has been opposed to the tactics the Trump administration has used regarding immigration enforcement throughout her two months in office.
..... She signed an executive order on February 11 [2026] banning ICE officers from suing state property to stage and launch immigration raids.
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The federal government sued in response to that order, alleging that it "obstructs federal law enforcement and facilitates the evasion of federal law by dangerous criminals, notwithstanding federal immigration agents' statutory mandate to detain and remove illegal aliens."
..... The state and Roxbury Township also sued ICE, the department of Homeland Security, former agency heed Kristi Noem and director of ICE Todd Lyons in relation to the warehouse that the department brought in the Morris County town.
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The suit contends that DHS and ICE made an "unlawful decision: to cerate a large-scale immigration detention facility in an industrial warehouse in Roxbury. The lawsuit described plans for the facility as a done deal, arguing that DHS has "purchased the site, has confirmed the site will be converted to an mitigation detention center, and is evidently soliciting constriction bids to start work, even though the warehouse is, according to the plaintiffs, "not fit for detention."
..... "The Roxbury waterhole is a logistics center fit for Amazon Prime packages not people - among other things, it currently has a total of four toilets, despite the planned influx of up to 1,500 detainees and hundreds more ICE employees," the complaint states.
..... ICE has a presence in the state as it is. There are two privately owned facilities that house people detained by federal immigration authorities, one in Elizabeth and another at Delaney Hall in Newark, which has made headlines of its own.