TRENTON, N.J. — Two South Jersey Republican lawmakers are moving to roll back New Jersey’s sanctuary state restrictions and restore cooperation between local police and federal immigration authorities.
Assemblyman Greg Myhre (R-9) introduced A5725 on Thursday, October 29, with Senator Carmen Amato Jr. (R-9) sponsoring companion legislation in the upper chamber.
The proposal would lift existing restrictions on state and local law enforcement cooperation with federal civil immigration authorities, establish a fund to support that cooperation, and appropriate money for the effort.
The legislation specifically targets Section 3 of P.L. 2026, c.5, the law signed by Governor Mikie Sherrill earlier this year that codified the state’s controversial Immigrant Trust Directive.
That law restricts local police from assisting federal immigration enforcement in several circumstances, including participation in certain ICE operations, sharing nonpublic information, and honoring civil immigration detainers except under specified conditions.
Myhre and Amato’s legislation would reverse those restrictions while going a step further: providing financial support for agencies that cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
The proposals arrive amid an ongoing fight over sanctuary policies in Trenton and opposition from Republican-controlled county and municipal governments across New Jersey.
The bills face a difficult path through the Democrat-controlled Legislature, which approved the sanctuary restrictions earlier this year.
