Federal authorities have filed lawsuits against four New Jersey cities, aiming to overturn local policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration officials.
The Trump administration argued before a federal judge that the recent surge of migrants entering the U.S. warrants a reconsideration of earlier rulings that upheld New Jersey’s sanctuary directives protecting undocumented immigrants.
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The four cities — Hoboken, Jersey City, Newark, and Paterson — have been sued over local sanctuary policies. City officials maintain that the constitutionality of these policies was upheld in 2021 by the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in a case involving Ocean County. However, federal attorneys urged the court to consider two more recent immigration-related decisions that favored the government.
“The current crisis of illegal immigration, which was allowed to reach critical levels after Ocean County was decided, requires a re-examination of that ruling,” the administration wrote in a letter filed last week.
The lawsuits challenge policies restricting local officials from sharing information with federal immigration authorities. Federal attorneys argue these policies are overridden by federal law, while city lawyers counter that municipalities must comply with New Jersey’s statewide Immigrant Trust Directive regardless of local policies.
According to federal attorneys, some city policies “impose even greater restrictions” than the state directive. For instance, Newark’s policy prohibits “any contract, agreement, or arrangement to detain immigrants in deportation proceedings, including but not limited to Intergovernmental Service Agreements.”
The four cities have requested U.S. District Judge Evelyn Padin to expedite the case, citing public safety concerns.
Gurbir Grewal, representing Hoboken and Newark and the former New Jersey attorney general who drafted the Immigrant Trust Act, defended the directive, which limits state and local cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
In 2021, a federal judge ruled the directive was not preempted by federal law, stating it regulates the conduct of state and local officials rather than federal authorities. “The United States already brought such a challenge and lost,” Grewal wrote in a recent filing.
The 2021 3rd Circuit decision similarly found the directive consistent with federal law. However, federal attorneys now argue that certain city policies discriminate against federal agencies, noting that Paterson’s policy excludes local officers assigned to federal task forces, effectively treating U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) differently from other agencies.
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