President Trump upped the ante at the end of last week, Save Jerseyans, filing suit against four North Jersey cities with sanctuary city policies that prevent local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities.
“While states and local governments are free to stand aside as the United States performs this important work, they cannot stand in the way,” the Department of Justice explained in its filing.
The Trump Administration is seeking a judgment and injunctive relief against each of the jurisdictions.
Newark, Jersey City, Paterson and Hoboken are obviously “blue,” but significantly, two of the cities (Newark and Jersey City) presently have mayor running for governor (Ras Baraka and Steven Fulop, respectively). Baraka was recently charged after allegedly trespassing at an ICE detention facility; the government later dropped the charge.
“The lawsuit against Newark is absurd,” said Baraka in a statement. “We’re not blocking safety, we are upholding the Constitution. Our policies reduce fear, increase trust, and have helped cut homicides by 61%. That’s not a threat to public safety, that’s what public safety looks like.”
New Jersey’s cities aren’t the only ones facing litigation: Chicago, Denver, and Rochester (New York) have also been brough to court by the Trump Administration over their pro-illegal immigration policies.
New Jersey itself has been a Sanctuary State since the implementation of the Immigrant Trust Directive in 2018. Each of the sued New Jersey cities, however, adopted their own independent policies to frustrate immigration enforcement. There’s a bill pending to codify the Directive in law but, given that it’s an election year and sanctuary policies are increasingly unpopular, the legislation has stalled in the Democrat-controlled legislature.
It’s been estimated that as many as 1 in 10 New Jersey residents are present illegally.
