Justice Department sues NJ over ban on immigration agents

Credit: (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The Department of Justice is challenging New Jersey’s ban on immigration enforcement arrests inside nonpublic areas of state property.

Executive Order 12, signed by Gov. Mikie Sherrill on Feb. 11, “interferes with the federal government’s enforcement of immigration laws,” the department said in a statement released on Tuesday. A day earlier, the department’s civil division sued New Jersey and Sherrill, following similar lawsuits involving “illegal sanctuary city policies across the country,” including in New York, Minnesota and California.

“Federal agents are risking their lives to keep New Jersey citizens safe, and yet New Jersey’s leaders are enacting policies designed to obstruct and endanger law enforcement,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said. “States may not deliberately interfere with our efforts to remove illegal aliens and arrest criminals — New Jersey’s sanctuary policies will not stand.”

New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, who was confirmed by a Senate vote on Tuesday, said her office stands by the executive order.

Credit: (NJ Department of Law & Public Safety)

“Instead of working with us to promote public safety and protect our state’s residents, the Trump Administration is wasting its resources on a pointless legal challenge to Governor Sherrill’s executive order,” Davenport said in a statement. “Under Governor Sherrill’s leadership, New Jersey will continue to ensure the safety of our state’s immigrant communities. We look forward to defending this executive order in court.”

The Department of Justice called New Jersey’s sanctuary policies illegal.

“The sole reason for the exclusionary treatment of federal immigration agents enforcing our Nation’s federal immigration laws is New Jersey’s disagreement with the substance of the laws written by Congress that have remained on the books and largely unchanged for half a century,” the lawsuit stated. “The State of New Jersey has adopted this policy with the clear objective of obstructing President Trump from enforcing federal immigration law.”