Sherrill slams ICE after Minneapolis shooting, calls agents “untrained and lawless”
TRENTON, N.J. – Governor Mikie Sherrill sharply criticized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following a deadly incident in Minneapolis, calling the agency “an untrained, lawless organization” and demanding that its agents “get off the streets immediately.”
That would be easy for ICE, but New Jersey’s Immigrant Trust Directive and sanctuary state policies prohibit local law enforcement, county jails and the state Department of Corrections from interacting with federal agents, leading to the release of criminal migrants with detainers back into the communities.
If Sherrill was seriosu about getting ICE out of neighborhoods, she would allow federal agents to operate in the jails and prisons, to detain violent criminals before they are released back into the community on New Jersey’s bail reform and pretrial hearing laws.
Her remarks came during a televised interview in which she was questioned about both the Minnesota shooting and New Jersey’s preparations for the recent winter storm on CNN this weekend.
Pretti, Good: A Bad Situation
Sherrill, who took office just five days prior, condemned the fatal shooting of two civilians identified as Renee Goodshot and Alex Pretty. In the interview, she described Pretty as an ICU nurse and licensed gun owner who was unarmed when he was “swarmed by a mob of ICE agents” and shot multiple times while pinned to the ground. “This is an unaccountable, untrained, lawless organization that is terrorizing American citizens,” Sherrill said.
Not about New Jersey’s Sanctuary State
Pressed about how her administration would respond to federal enforcement activity in New Jersey, the governor said the issue “goes far beyond” debates over sanctuary city policies. She compared the tactics of ICE to “a Stasi-type force of secret police,” claiming the agents operated in masks, without identification, and under a lack of oversight.
Sherrill emphasized that New Jersey’s law enforcement agencies are subject to rigorous training and accountability standards, contrasting them with federal immigration officers.
“No police officer in the state of New Jersey would act like that,” she said. “If anything untoward happened, other officers would intervene immediately, and that person would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
Governor Warns of Tensions with ICE, Federal Authorities During Her Term
The governor’s comments mark one of the strongest state-level rebukes of ICE enforcement since her inauguration, signaling a potential clash between her administration and federal immigration authorities if similar operations take place within New Jersey’s borders.
- Governor Mikie Sherrill condemned ICE as “untrained and lawless” after a fatal Minneapolis incident
- She compared federal agents to “secret police” and demanded they be removed from public operations
- The remarks came during her first week in office as New Jersey’s new governor