January 11, 2026
Jon Tuleya/PhillyVoice
Three bills limiting local cooperation with federal immigration agents advanced in the New Jersey Legislature following a fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE officer in Minneapolis. A final vote is expected Monday. This photo shows people at Thursday's demonstration outside City Hall in Philadelphia.
A trio of bills targeting local cooperation with federal immigration agents and expanding protections for immigrants is expected to go before the full Legislature Monday after they advanced through two legislative committees Thursday.
The package of bills is being fast-tracked after a similar measure languished for more than a year. Senate President Nicholas Scutari told reporters that he plans to support them, though he worries about the proposals making New Jersey a target of the federal government.
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"I fear for the people that are advocating for this getting what they ask for, and maybe it's not exactly what they expect. I think it could have unintended consequences for lots of folks," Scutari said Thursday ahead of the bills clearing committees.
The bills' advancement came a day after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis during a civil immigration enforcement operation. Sen. Britnee Timberlake (D-Essex) said that the "killing of a young, 37-year-old mother, American citizen, white woman, blonde hair, shows that this can happen to everyone."
"What the federal government is directing for ICE to carry out is wrong, and I do believe and look for a day in the future where history will speak for itself and that those who are carrying out these illegal acts will find themselves in the same position as those who carried out the illegal acts in Nazi Germany through the Nuremberg trials," Timberlake said. "It's wrong what we're seeing, and these bills are just a slight step in the right direction to try to protect our citizens as much as we can."
The legislation was passed late Thursday in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee with opposition from the Republicans on both panels. Assemblyman Greg Myhre (R-Ocean) called the legislation codifying the directive "probably the worst one out of all of them."
"This just promotes lawlessness and makes our state less safe," he said.
The White House last week issued a statement criticizing the Legislature for moving the bills and saying the body should "focus on protecting law-abiding citizens, not the criminal aliens who kill them."
The package of bills includes legislation to codify the Immigrant Trust Directive, an attorney general order that limits cooperation between federal immigration authorities and New Jersey law enforcement. The bill would bar police officers from engaging in "racially influenced policing," like stopping someone based on their suspected citizenship status; require agencies to develop procedures for certain visa requests; and mandate that prosecutors inform criminal defendants of immigration consequences of some charges and convictions.
The second measure would require the state to develop policies for "sensitive locations" — like some health care centers, schools, and shelters — that would prohibit federal civil immigration enforcement on the premises. The third bill would bar government entities and health care facilities from asking for certain personal information, like immigration status, in some cases.
Immigrant advocates have been urging lawmakers to codify the protections for immigrants, pointing to the drastic increase in immigration enforcement and the fact that any future attorney general could withdraw the directive.
Dozens of people testified Thursday during the hourslong hearings, and the vote in the Assembly came just before 9 p.m. Witnesses shared stories of immigrant residents who fear federal agents, children who have come home to find their parents were arrested, and businesses that have suffered as a result of the fear of authorities.
"Laws like this are necessary to build a firewall against an unaccountable, militarized deportation force. But we're under no illusions that this will be enough. The federal administration will keep coming, and New Jersey will need to stay ready with additional protections as new threats emerge," said Nedia Morsy, director of immigrant advocacy group Make the Road New Jersey.
The bills will likely go before the Senate and Assembly on Monday. Gov. Phil Murphy, whose final day in office is Jan. 20, declined to say Thursday whether he would sign or veto them.
Republican legislators voiced concerns about the bills regulating the federal government, which is barred by the U.S. Constitution's supremacy clause. Sen. Raj Mukherji (D-Hudson), a sponsor of the bill, waved away that criticism.
"Counties sued us, Trump administration 1.0 sued us — sequels are often worse, and I would say this one definitely is — but the U.S. District Court of New Jersey upheld the directive. The 3rd Circuit affirmed it," he said. "This is legal, and Congress can regulate the conduct of private actors, but they can't make the states use their resources to do the job of federal immigration enforcement."
Timberlake added: "They can bring in their own resources to do it."
New Jersey Monitor is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. New Jersey Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Terrence T. McDonald for questions: info@newjerseymonitor.com.
