The New Jersey Fight Against Trump-Era Immigration Policies

By Miniya Malone

NJ State House News Service 

PRINCETON, N.J. – In a small beige room of Nassau Presbyterian Church, containing not much more than rows of white plastic chairs set on blue carpet, Resistencia en Acción, a grassroots organization, meets with community members and volunteers from across the state to band together with the mission of promoting and protecting the rights of immigrants and working-class communities across New Jersey. 

“The truth is that we have the means to empower ourselves, we have the means to organize ourselves in order to get out of this bad situation, and we always have faith that we can do that if we apply enough pressure on our elected officials,” said Paulo Almiron, the organization’s media coordinator.

As people came up to speak in front of the crowd of about 50, the air was serious and tense. 

Through tears, and with her toddler in hand, one mother described how her husband had been deported to Guatemala, and that immigration lawyers couldn’t do anything to help. 

Later, a man by the name of Raúl stood up, with the meeting organizers describing that his boss had repeatedly refused to pay him and was using his immigration status as a threat to keep him working. Volunteers announced they planned to go to the boss’ house themselves and demand that Raúl get his hard-earned money.

“Right now we have a militarized agenda that’s kidnapping our neighbors,” said Almiron. “People are unfortunately living in fear. Even if they try to abide by all possible laws, there is no guarantee that people will be safe.” 

To Almiron, the biggest misconception that people have about the immigrants of New Jersey is that they “need somebody to come save us…as if we need a messiah.” For him, the immigrants of New Jersey aren’t defenseless or weak. They not only know how to fight for themselves, but they have to. 

In the face of strict federal immigration policies, organizations across New Jersey like Resistencia en Acción are taking the task of resisting and protecting their communities into their own hands.

That resistance includes participating in protests at the state’s immigrant detention facilities, Delaney Hall in Newark and the Elizabeth Detention Center, with chants like “from Palestine to Mexico all these walls have got to go.”

Delaney Hall is a 1,000-bed facility that reopened in May of 2025, operated by the for-profit GEO Group under a $1 billion, 15-year federal contract with the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Its opening was largely criticized by state advocates and legislators alike, many of whom have stood firmly against the existence of private detention centers. 

“The operation of any private immigration detention facility runs counter to the values of our district, our state, and our country, full stop,” said Congressman Rob Menendez, a Democrat who represents New Jersey’s 8th congressional district. 

“Put plainly, the reopening of the Delaney Hall Facility is an insult to immigrant communities and advocates in New Jersey, New York, and around the country who have fought tirelessly to document the human rights abuses at private detention centers and repeatedly pushed administration after administration to ensure the humane treatment of detained people,” said U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat. 

Tensions rose further when state health officials were barred from completing a full inspection of the facility, leading Attorney General Jennifer Davenport to file a lawsuit last month against the GEO Group for the New Jersey Department of Health to have complete access to the center. 

  “If the GEO Group — with a $1 billion government contract — has nothing to hide and the conditions inside Delaney Hall are as safe and as sanitary as this private corporation and the Trump Administration claim, then there is no legitimate reason why my health inspectors are being kept from full access throughout the building,” said Gov. Mikie Sherrill in a statement on the pending lawsuit.

With the introduction of new federal policies threatening the position of immigrants, officials like Sherrill have worked to protect New Jersey immigrants, a diverse group that makes up almost 25% of the state’s population. 

Those efforts include the Immigrant Trust Directive, which Sherrill signed into law to limit the assistance state officials can provide to federal immigration authorities and

prohibit state law enforcement from detaining or questioning any individual based on suspected immigration status.

State Sen. Gordon Johnson, a Democrat from Englewood and sponsor of the legislation, said his office received several calls from immigrant constituents who described “being harassed by the federal government and the policies of this presidency.”

“It’s taking away their human rights, it’s separating families, it’s incarcerating people in camps like America did many years ago during World War II….or [like how] they incarcerated blacks when they had slavery. Same principle all over again,” said Johnson.

Sherrill simultaneously signed A4070, the “Privacy Protection Act,” limiting how state and local officials could collect and share personal information like an individual’s immigration status. 

As legislators work to create policies that will defend immigrants across the state, organizations and advocates also attempt to tear down barriers and provide increased support. 

Henry Acosta, executive director of Save Latin America, a nonprofit organization that supports Latinos in Union City, said his organization saw major changes once President Donald Trump took office. 

The revenue for their immigration services increased 90% from $75,000 to $142,000, a spike Acosta attributes to his clients’ fears of deportation. The demand for immigration services comes as immigration arrests more than doubled in the state during Trump’s first 14 months in office, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from the University of California, Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project.

In the face of such challenges, immigrant advocates say the bonds of New Jersey communities have strengthened.

“There’s nobody else that’s gonna come and pick us up from the hole that this system has thrown us in. We ourselves have to climb out, but we don’t have to do that individually. We can do it collectively by holding each other hand-in-hand and doing it together because that’s what community is about,” shared Almiron. “Community is about sharing moments together, about sharing the same struggles, the same aspirations, the same hopes.”

Sherrill’s first budget incorporates funding to support these efforts, including a $12 million increase in funding for the Detention Deportation Defense Initiative, which provides free legal counsel to low-income state residents at risk of deportation. 

Sherrill also worked to create a new Rapid Legal Response Initiative, aimed at expanding statewide legal capacity for immigrant support by recruiting attorneys and increasing emergency legal support. 

“Every person deserves access to due process and meaningful legal representation, regardless of their immigration status or income,” said state Office of New Americas Director Johanna Calle. “By making this additional investment, New Jersey is strengthening its commitment to protecting families, defending constitutional rights, and ensuring that no one faces detention or deportation alone.”