Governor Mikie Sherrill signed three immigration bills into law Wednesday, making New Jersey the 10th state in the country to formally prohibit local police and sheriffs from entering into ICE’s 287(g) program.
The new law puts on the books what was already supposed to be policy. Back in 2018, then-Attorney General Gurbir Grewal issued a directive telling local law enforcement to stay out of 287(g). He requested they stop holding people in jail just because ICE asked them to and keep citizenship questions out of routine criminal investigations. But a directive isn’t a law, and with every election cycle came the very real possibility that a friendlier administration could quietly undo it.
Sherrill also signed two other bills:
- ICE agents are required to remove their masks and identify themselves before making an arrest.
- Privacy Protection Act limiting when state agencies can collect or share immigration status data with the feds.
New Jersey now joins nine other Democratic-led states in banning participation in the 287(g) program. It’s also the fourth state to take this step in 2025 alone.
Hover or tap a state for details. Sources: Bolts Magazine, ACLU, AP (March 2026)
Washington isn’t taking any of this lying down. The DOJ already sued New Jersey in February over Sherrill’s earlier executive order barring ICE from nonpublic state property. Attorney General Pam Bondi called the state’s policies designed to “obstruct and endanger law enforcement,” while a DHS spokesperson previously called Sherrill’s approach “legally illiterate.”
The feds have also been quietly building their own infrastructure in the state rather than waiting on local cooperation. The federal government spent $129.3 million purchasing a 470,000-square-foot warehouse in Roxbury with plans to convert it into a detention facility holding up to 1,500 people. New Jersey and Roxbury Township are now jointly suing to block it.
Notably, DHS dropped similar plans for a New Hampshire warehouse after that state’s Republican governor objected.
The broader legal playbook involves funding threats too. The Trump administration has tried pulling federal grants from sanctuary jurisdictions, though courts have pushed back on the most sweeping versions of that approach. Meanwhile, the DOJ’s own record in New Jersey hasn’t exactly helped its credibility: an internal review revealed the department violated immigration court orders 52 times in roughly two months — including erroneously deporting one man to Peru.
The political fight is happening against a backdrop of pretty clear public opinion, at least in New Jersey. A Stockton University poll of 700 registered voters conducted in February found two-thirds think immigration enforcement has gone too far, and 59% said ICE’s tactics are making communities less safe. A 62% majority disapproved of the Trump administration’s approach to immigration overall.
Support for the specific laws Sherrill signed was real but more divided. About 48% of voters backed a law limiting how much assistance local police can give ICE. But 43% opposed the law, this is a tight margin that reflects just how polarizing the topic remains. The data privacy bill fared better: nearly 6 in 10 New Jerseyans supported restrictions on how state agencies collect and share immigration status information.
The national picture tells a similar story. A February NPR/PBS/Marist poll found 65% of Americans think ICE has gone too far — up from 54% just eight months earlier. By a 2-to-1 margin, Americans oppose the specific tactics ICE has been using, and seven in ten don’t believe most people being deported are violent criminals.
The divide, though, runs deep along party lines. Most New Jersey Democrats said immigration has no meaningful effect on crime rates or job opportunities, while most Republicans said it increases both. That gap isn’t closing anytime soon — and it’s exactly the gap both Sherrill and the Trump administration are betting on.
