Sherrill Signs NJ’s Landmark Immigrant Protection Laws

Two long-awaited immigrant protection bills are now finally law. On Wednesday, Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) signed two pieces of legislation which advocates say would help immigrant residents feel safer accessing the services they need.

The bills are called the Privacy Protection Act (S3522/A4070) and the Strengthening Trust Between Law Enforcement and Immigrant Communities Act (S3521/A4071). One provision prohibits state and local agencies from collecting or disclosing a person’s immigration status, citizenship status, place of birth, social security number, or individual taxpayer identification number unless to determine eligibility for a service or benefit. The other codifies the state attorney general’s existing policy which limits how local police and federal immigration agents interact, ensuring these protections cannot be overturned by future administrations.

A version of the bills were pocket-vetoed by former Gov. Phil Murphy (D) the morning before he left office in mid-January following a down-to-the-wire state Legislature vote, disappointing lawmakers and immigrant rights advocates. To secure enough votes for passage, advocates and lawmakers had already split the comprehensive Immigrant Trust Act into three separate, narrower pieces of legislation that made it to Murphy’s desk.

Here’s what social justice organizations are saying across New Jersey:

Nedia Morsy, director of Make the Road NJ:

“The Trump administration has been weaponizing local police, private personal data, and masked federal agents across the country, and New Jersey just drew a hard line. These new laws will protect personal information from being used to target people and stop local police from being pulled into immigration enforcement.

“Thousands of people across the state packed hearings, called their legislators, and shared their stories until state lawmakers listened. These laws simply do not happen without the years of sustained pressure from residents who spoke out and demanded real change. As we see ICE ramping up enforcement and cooperation with local law enforcement in most states, New Jersey is going the other direction and fighting back. 

“These protections need to be the floor and not a ceiling. The threats coming out of Washington are evolving every day, so our laws need to keep up. That means closing loopholes that leave people exposed, responding to new tactics, and making sure every person in the state has their rights protected.

“We want to thank Governor Sherrill, Speaker Coughlin, Senate Majority Leader Ruiz, Senator Mukherji, Senator Timberlake, Assemblywoman Quijano, Assemblywoman Park, Assemblywoman Collazos-Gil, and everyone in the state who helped make this possible.”

Ami Kachalia, campaign strategist for ACLU New Jersey:

“We are grateful to Gov. Sherrill for signing this critical bill package that will cement long overdue protections for immigrant New Jerseyans into law. The Trump administration’s cruel immigration agenda has been inflicting violence, chaos, and civil rights abuses on families and communities, and New Jersey cannot sit idly by as our neighbors are killed, injured, and terrorized by lawless federal agents. These bills will create meaningful progress to strengthen the safety of every person who calls our state home. 

“Still, more work must be done to protect the people. As the Trump administration attempts to erode due process protections, it is more important than ever that New Jersey affirmatively stands up for them. We look forward to working with the Legislature and Gov. Sherrill to strengthen the Immigrant Trust Directive protections and to ensure increased funding for access to counsel in immigration proceedings.” 

Marleina Ubel, senior policy analyst for New Jersey Policy Perspective:

“Governor Sherrill’s signing of the Privacy Protection Act and the Immigrant Trust Directive codification marks meaningful progress in protecting immigrant communities across New Jersey. We’re especially encouraged to see data privacy protections included — an approach NJPP has long championed. At the same time, key gaps remain, including the continued sharing of license plate reader data with federal agencies. We look forward to working with state leaders to build on this progress and ensure these protections are truly comprehensive in practice.”

Dena Mottola Jaborska, executive director of New Jersey Citizen Action:

“We heartily applaud Governor Sherrill for signing laws protecting New Jerseyans and our democracy from the unprecedented assault by the Trump administrations and its federal agents. For too many months we’ve seen families torn apart by extra-judicial arrests and incarcerations; neighborhoods, businesses, and public spaces disrupted by raids; and the very foundations of our democracy buckle under the unlawful activities of masked ICE agents. Attacks on immigrants and people of color are attacks on all New Jerseyans. Governor Sherrill has taken the vital step of making our state safer for everyone, and of standing up to the Trump administration’s unrelenting assault on our constitutional rights. 

“We also applaud our Legislative Leadership and the primary sponsors who doggedly championed these bills: Senate President Nicholas Scutari, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz, Senators Gordon Johnson, Raj Mukherji, John McKeon, Britnee Timberlake, Benjie Wimberly, Andrew Zwicker, Assemblymembers Alixon Collazos-Gill, Annette Quijano, Ellen Park, Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, Gabriel Rodriguez, and Michael Venezia.  We thank our friends and allies who tirelessly and courageously advocated for this long-overdue legislation, including the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, Make the Road New Jersey, the Latino Action Network, and Wind of the Spirit, to name just a few.

“Finally, we thank the countless New Jersey residents who marched, made phone calls, sent emails, and got on social media to speak out with one voice against injustice, and by doing so made these laws possible.”

Editor’s note: This article will be updated as more statements are received.