‘Sanctuary policies will not stand’: New Jersey tries to restrain ICE, but Trump DOJ pushes back



The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the sanctuary state of New Jersey after its governor banned Immigration and Customs Enforcement from some state property.

On Feb. 11, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) signed Executive Order No. 12, which declared that federal immigration agents cannot access “nonpublic areas of State property for the purpose of facilitating federal enforcement of civil immigration law” without a judicial warrant or order.

'Federal agents are risking their lives to keep New Jersey citizens safe, and yet New Jersey’s leaders are enacting policies designed to obstruct and endanger law enforcement.'

The governor claimed that the action would “protect against ICE raids on state property.”

“I take seriously my responsibility to keep New Jersey residents safe, and as a Navy veteran and former federal prosecutor, my commitment to upholding the Constitution will never waver,” Sherrill stated. “This executive order will prohibit ICE from using state property to launch operations. To strengthen public safety, we will also give New Jersey residents the tools to report ICE activity to the attorney general’s office and ensure residents know their constitutional rights.”

The governor’s office accused the Trump administration’s ICE agents of “violently abusing power and violating Constitutional rights.”

The DOJ responded to Sherrill’s executive action by filing a lawsuit against New Jersey on Feb. 23, stating that the state’s leadership has insisted “on harboring criminal offenders from federal law enforcement.”

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Photographer: Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The complaint claimed that Sherrill aimed to “intentionally obstruct federal law enforcement,” adding that she “celebrates thwarting the constitutional obligation of the President of the United States to take care that federal immigration law be faithfully executed.”

The DOJ argued that Sherrill’s executive order obstructs and intentionally discriminates against the federal government. Prosecutors also claimed that the action violated the Supremacy Clause, which “prohibits a state from usurping Congress.”

“Federal agents are risking their lives to keep New Jersey citizens safe, and yet New Jersey’s leaders are enacting policies designed to obstruct and endanger law enforcement,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said. “States may not deliberately interfere with our efforts to remove illegal aliens and arrest criminals — New Jersey’s sanctuary policies will not stand.”

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Mikie Sherrill. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Sherrill reacted to the lawsuit, stating, “I think what the federal government needs to be focused on right now instead of attacking states like New Jersey working to keep people safe is actually training their ICE agents with some modicum of training, like any law enforcement officer in the state of New Jersey would have, so they can operate better and more safely.”

New ICE recruits receive 56 days of training and an average of 28 days of on-the-job training, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

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‘Turnaround for the ages’: Trump boasts victory at the southern border — 0 illegal aliens entered in 9 months



During President Donald Trump's State of the Union speech Tuesday night, he highlighted his administration's successful immigration enforcement efforts as the Department of Homeland Security shutdown entered its 11th day.

Trump called the past year "a turnaround for the ages" in the United States after the prior administration allowed "11,888 murderers" to enter the U.S.

'You should be ashamed of yourself.'

"After four years in which millions and millions of illegal aliens poured across our borders, totally unvetted and unchecked," Trump stated, "we now have the strongest and most secure border in American history by far. In the past nine months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States. But we will always allow people to come in legally, people that will love our country and will work hard to maintain our country."

ICE has hired 12,000 additional officers and agents. During Trump's first year back in office, his administration has removed an estimated 3 million illegal aliens, including 2.2 million self-deportations and 675,000 deportations.

Trump was joined at the SOTU address by the parents of Sarah Beckstrom, a 20-year-old National Guard soldier who was fatally shot in Washington, D.C., allegedly by an Afghan man allowed into the country during former President Joe Biden's botched Afghanistan withdrawal.

Dalilah Coleman, a child who was left with critical and life-altering injuries at 5 years old as a result of a multi-car wreck caused by an illegal alien truck driver, also attended the event. Trump called on Congress to pass Dalilah's Law, which would bar any state from granting commercial driver's licenses to illegal aliens.

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Photo by David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

Trump slammed Democrats for the ongoing DHS shutdown, which prompted the agency to implement emergency measures to conserve resources, including halting all Federal Emergency Management Agency non-disaster-related response efforts, Global Entry, and airport police escorts for members of Congress.

"As we speak, Democrats in this chamber have cut off all funding for the Department of Homeland Security. ... Now they have closed the agency responsible for protecting Americans from terrorists and murderers. Tonight, I am demanding the full and immediate restoration of all funding for the border security, Homeland Security of the United States," Trump said.

The president urged lawmakers to demonstrate their commitment to prioritizing the protection of American citizens.

"If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support. The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens," Trump told lawmakers.

Republican lawmakers stood up in response, while most Democrats remained seated.

"You should be ashamed of yourself," Trump told Democrats who refused to stand. He also called on lawmakers to "end deadly sanctuary cities" and pass the SAVE America Act, which aims to keep noncitizens from voting in federal elections.

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Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

The DHS previously criticized Democratic lawmakers for causing three shutdowns that have impacted the agency.

"This is the third time that Democrat politicians have shut down this department during the 119th Congress," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem stated Sunday. "Shutdowns have real-world consequences, not just for the men and women of DHS and their families who go without a paycheck, but it endangers our national security."

Negotiations to end the shutdown appear to be stalled, with Democrats demanding ICE reforms.

"It is our view that immigration enforcement in this country should be fair, it should be just, and it should be humane," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) stated last week.

"That's not what's happening now in the United States of America, and that's why ICE needs to be reformed in a dramatic, bold, meaningful, and transformational manner," Jeffries continued. "And if that doesn't happen, the DHS funding bill will not move forward."

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