By Matt Rooney
Governor Phil Murphy shocked and dismayed many of his Leftist supporters on Tuesday morning when, hours before he leaves office, the outgoing Democrat “pocket vetoed” two of three Sanctuary Statehood bills sitting on his desk including the one which would have codified the controversial policy in state law.
A pocket veto occurs when the governor – Murphy, until Noon on Tuesday – declines to act on a bill passed by the legislature within the time allowed.
Referring specifically to A6310/S5038, Murphy didn’t change his opinion on sanctuary policies; his concern lies in whether codifying them would increase the chance of a successful court challenge.
“The Immigrant Trust Directive, which has been in place since 2018, is one of the greatest successes of our Administration,” said Governor Murphy. “Most importantly, the Directive has withstood judicial scrutiny by multiple federal judges, including one appointed by President Trump and another appointed by former President George W. Bush. Today, the Directive is settled case law in the Third Circuit at a time when our federal judiciary has increasingly taken a more activist posture and struck down critical rights and protections. Both Governor-elect Sherrill and Attorney General-designate Davenport have stated that the Directive is working.”
“I am extremely concerned that signing this bill, which differs from the Immigrant Trust Directive, would open New Jersey up to a new court challenge and renewed judicial scrutiny from judges who may not render the same decision upholding these critical protections,” Murphy continued. “Renewed litigation would also put our time-tested Immigrant Trust Directive at risk, endangering hundreds of thousands of immigrants in New Jersey in one fell swoop. I cannot in good conscience allow that to happen. Re-opening the door to judicial scrutiny of our State’s immigration policies, combined with the Trump Administration’s increasingly targeted actions against states and cities, is a recipe for disaster for our immigrant brothers and sisters and puts them in greater danger. And that is not something I am willing to risk when the Directive is secure for the foreseeable future.”
Murphy also pocket vetoed A6309/S5037, the so-called “Privacy Protection Act,” because the soon-to-be former governor believes it could jeopardize billions of dollars in federal funding.
“I was hopeful that we would be able to get this personal data privacy protection bill across the finish line during the final days of my term, as I strongly support the rationale behind this legislation,” said Governor Murphy. “Unfortunately, upon further review of the legislation, we discovered a drafting oversight that could create significant complications when it comes to advancing our shared goal of protecting New Jersey’s immigrant communities.”
You can read Murphy’s full release here.
He didn’t elaborate on the “drafting oversight,” but President Trump just recently threatened to cut off federal funding to sanctuary jurisdictions beginning February 1st.
Murphy did sign off on A6308/S5036, the “Safe Communities Act,” which directs the Attorney General to develop model policies for various public and semi-public places.
Developing…
