BELVIDERE, N.J. – Warren County and the largest municipality in Monmouth County – Middletown – are taking a stand against Sanctuary Statehood.
On Wednesday, the respective jurisdictions’ governing bodies adopted resolutions condemning recent sanctuary statehood and anti-ICE laws signed by Governor Mikie Sherrill and urged their repeal.
“Whereas, the Township encourages state, county, and local law enforcement, to the fullest extent permitted by law, to cooperate with other law enforcement agencies in securing our community against threats to public safety as well as assist federal authorities in safeguarding government installations located in the Garden State,” the Middletown Township Committee declared in its resolution adopted at the June 24th regular meeting.
“The Board further urges that any future legislation in this area respect the supremacy of the federal government under the United States Constitution in matters of immigration policy and enforcement, and include clear protections for officer safety and operations, workable standards for interagency coordination, and provisions that preserve the ability of law enforcement to respond effectively to threats to the public,” the Warren Board of Commissioners declared in its own version.
New Jersey has been a de facto sanctuary jurisdiction since 2018 when Governor Murphy’s first attorney general issued a directive preventing local and state law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. All three bills cited in the resolutions – codifying sanctuary statehood, barring ICE from wearing maskins, and restricting information sharing – were enacted in March 2026. Since then, a rolling riot outside Newark’s Delaney Hall ICE detention facility and an alleged vehicular assault on an ICE officer in Ocean County have brought the controversial policies back under intense scrutiny.
The full text of each is viewable below:
WC-Board-of-County-Commissioners-20260624-1 Middletown-26-194-Resolution-Opposing-And-Seeking-Repeal-Of-Recently-Enacted-State-Laws-Affecting-Law-Enforcement-Operations-Federal-State-Cooperation-And-Publi
