Gov. Mikie Sherrill‘s administration plans to create an online portal for residents to report encounters with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, mirroring efforts by protesters who have tracked the federal agency’s public activity.
Sherrill, who took office earlier this month, made the announcement Wednesday during an appearance on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.”
“We are also going to be standing up a portal so people can upload all their cellphone videos and alert people,” Sherrill said. “If you see an ICE agent in the street, get your phone out. We want to know.”
ICE officials did not immediately respond to a request to comment.
Sherrill also said she would prohibit ICE from operating on state property. Some municipalities, including Jersey City, have already banned ICE from using local property.
“They have not been forthcoming,” Sherrill said of ICE operations. “They will pick people up. They will not tell us who they are.”
The governor said ICE often declines to share information about people it arrests. She said the federal agency resembles a secret police force.
“They’ll pick up American citizens. They picked up a 5-year-old child. We want documentation, and we’re going to make sure we get it,” Sherrill said.
After her appearance, Sherrill’s administration said additional details about the reporting database would be released in the coming days in cooperation with Jennifer Davenport, the state’s newly appointed acting attorney general .
“Keeping New Jerseyans safe is Gov. Sherrill’s top priority, and in the coming days she and Acting Attorney General Davenport will announce additional actions to protect New Jerseyans from federal overreach,” the governor’s office said in a statement.
The move follows similar steps in New York, where state Attorney General Letitia James announced an initiative in October to collect photos and videos of ICE after a high-profile raid on Canal Street in New York City, an area known for its immigrant population.
Reports submitted to New Jersey’s system would have to be reviewed by the state Office of the Attorney General for potential state-level violations of the law, state officials said.
Officials in other states have said they will fight ICE on legal grounds. In Pennsylvania, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner warned he is willing to pursue state charges against ICE agents under certain circumstances.
Meanwhile, New Jersey’s congressional delegation announced this week that it is holding legal observer trainings on how the public can document federal immigration enforcement.
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., said public oversight of ICE remains essential.
“Their crimes must be recorded for the day when those who have violated our rights face justice,” she said. “It’s up to us to serve as witnesses now.”
