In her first hours as New Jersey’s 57th governor, Mikie Sherrill inherited the unresolved debate over whether the state should codify and expand protections for undocumented immigrants after her predecessor let the legislation that would have done so die without his signature.
Outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy’s decision to veto two of three immigrant protection bills handed to him by the Legislature last week — bills that would have, among other things, restricted when local law enforcement can cooperate with federal immigration agents — angered immigrant advocates who immediately began urging lawmakers to reintroduce the bills and send them to Sherrill (D) for her signature.
“It feels like a slap in the face when our communities were championing and the whole state was championing for these to pass,” said Viri Martinez of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. “For him to just not meet the moment, it’s so disappointing. For the Sherrill administration, we need leadership. Point blank, period, we need leadership.”
Assemblywoman Ellen Park (D-Bergen), who sponsored the three bills, said that as an immigrant herself, the measures were “deeply personal.” Park said she plans to reintroduce the two vetoed bills for Sherrill’s consideration.
“While these bills were not signed into law this time, our efforts do not end here,” Park said in a statement.
The state attorney general’s Immigrant Trust Directive, an order signed in 2018, is aimed at barring state and local police from aiding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in civil immigration enforcement.
Immigrant advocates have long pushed for the Legislature to make the directive law, arguing that a future attorney general could unilaterally rescind the directive. They renewed that push after Donald Trump became president again and initiated a mass deportation effort.
A bill to codify the directive languished in the Legislature. Earlier this month, another version of the bill was introduced that would have codified the directive and approved additional protections for immigrants. A second bill introduced alongside that one would have created data privacy protections when residents share personal data to receive public services, like at hospitals and libraries. The third bill in the package requires the Attorney General’s Office to designate specific locations where immigration enforcement will be barred.
Murphy (D) vetoed the first two and signed the third, arguing that the bill to codify the 2018 directive could open the state up to judicial scrutiny and leave the directive vulnerable. He argued that the data privacy bill needed to be amended to avoid conflicting with federal law.
Because Murphy left office on Tuesday and the bills passed in the legislative session that ended last week, the Legislature cannot vote to override Murphy’s vetoes.
The 11-member Latino legislative caucus said in a statement that the vetoed bills were “developed in direct response to concerns raised by our communities.” They noted that some law enforcement officials support the directive’s aims, saying it allows for victims and witnesses of crimes to speak to police without fear of retribution over their immigration status.
“We look forward to continued dialogue with the Sherrill Administration and legislative partners to address the concerns raised and to pursue solutions that reflect the needs of New Jersey’s diverse communities,” they said.
It’s unclear what Sherrill would do if the two vetoed bills pass the Legislature again and make it to her desk. When she was campaigning for governor last year, Sherrill expressed the same kind of concern about codifying the Immigrant Trust Directive that Murphy did on Tuesday. Her office declined to comment.
Nedia Morsy is the executive director of Make the Road New Jersey, an immigration and labor advocacy group based in Elizabeth. She’s hopeful the Sherrill administration will see the “rapidly changing circumstances” across the country as a push to revisit support for codifying the directive.
She said this could be an opportunity for lawmakers to weigh whether to add new protections to the bills, noting that immigrant agents’ tactics are escalating nationwide.
“We weren’t successful in this way, but there’s still so much opportunity — there is momentum to do more,” she said. “We definitely don’t want to lose that.”
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