“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,” Bondi said.
The Department of Justice has sued New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherill after the head of New Jersey ordered that state agencies could not permit "permit or consent to federal immigration officers entering, accessing, or using nonpublic areas of State property for the purpose of facilitating federal enforcement of civil immigration law” unless they had a judicial warrant.
On Monday, the DOJ sued Sherrill over the order and accused the New Jersey governor of "aiming to intentionally obstruct federal law enforcement." She signed the order on February 11.
"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,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi. “States may not deliberately interfere with our efforts to remove illegal aliens and arrest criminals — New Jersey’s sanctuary policies will not stand.”
The order from Sherrill directs state agencies to “not permit or consent to federal immigration officers entering, accessing, or using nonpublic areas of State property for the purpose of facilitating federal enforcement of civil immigration law” unless ICE or another immigration enforcement agency has a court order or judicial warrant.
The order from Sherrill, however, states that it does not apply to public property that is open to the general public. At the same time, New Jersey does not coordinate with ICE at jails to detain criminal illegal immigrants, something that Border Czar Tom Homan has prioritized in addressing issues of illegal immigration and sanctuary policy.
“New Jersey’s refusal to cooperate with federal immigration authorities results in the release of dangerous criminals from police custody who would otherwise be subject to removal, including illegal aliens convicted of aggravated assault, burglary, and drug and human trafficking, onto the streets,” the DOJ said in a press release.
On Tuesday, Sherrill argued, "What the federal government needs to be focused on right now, instead of attacking states like New Jersey working to keep people safe, is actually training their ICE agents with some modicum of training.”
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