TRENTON, NJ – The New Jersey Senate has voted to approve a landmark bill that would officially make the Garden State a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants, sending the controversial measure to Governor Mikie Sherrill’s desk for final approval.
The legislation, part of a broader package of immigrant protection bills, seeks to cement into law the state’s 2018 Immigrant Trust Directive, which limits cooperation between local and state law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. The bill’s passage marks one of the most sweeping state-level immigration protections in the country.
The measure, known as Assembly Bill 6310, prohibits local police from detaining individuals solely on the basis of immigration status and restricts communication with federal immigration agencies except in limited, court-approved circumstances. The policy was originally enacted by then–Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to improve trust between immigrant communities and police departments.
Senate Republicans voiced sharp opposition to the proposal, arguing it could hinder law enforcement operations and complicate cooperation with federal agencies. During the vote, Senator Jon Bramnick, a Republican and potential gubernatorial contender in 2028, was notably absent, skipping the vote entirely.
The bill’s advancement follows a 46–26 Assembly vote earlier this week after hours of heated debate on the floor. If signed by Governor Sherrill, New Jersey would join a small group of states with formal sanctuary laws, solidifying policies that have been in place through executive directives for years.
Under the proposal, officers would be barred from stopping, questioning, or detaining individuals based solely on their citizenship or immigration status. They would also be prohibited from inquiring about a person’s immigration status unless it is directly relevant to an ongoing investigation of an indictable offense. The bill explicitly prevents state and local agencies from entering into or renewing agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under Section 287(g) of the federal Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows local authorities to perform certain federal immigration enforcement functions.
The measure, however, does not alter existing ICE detention contracts with county jails that house federal immigration detainees. It does require law enforcement agencies to develop uniform procedures for processing T-visa and U-visa certification requests from potential victims of crime or human trafficking within 120 days, while making that information publicly available online.
Additional provisions address how courts and prosecutors handle cases involving non-citizen defendants. Judges must confirm that defendants are informed of potential immigration consequences tied to criminal charges, and prosecutors must evaluate pretrial detention decisions without assuming that non-citizens present a flight risk.
Evidence of a defendant’s immigration status would generally be barred from trial unless deemed directly relevant by a court.
The amended bill also requires that detained individuals be notified in writing—using a language they understand—if federal immigration authorities request interviews or extended detention. Law enforcement agencies must report annually on all instances of cooperation with federal immigration authorities, with those reports consolidated and published online by the Attorney General’s Office.
A statewide training program will be developed by the Division of Criminal Justice to ensure that all law enforcement officers understand and comply with the new requirements within 60 days of its rollout. County prosecutors will be tasked with educating the public about the law’s provisions and its goal of fostering stronger trust between police and immigrant communities.
The Appropriations Committee’s amendments further clarified limits on holding individuals for federal immigration requests. Local agencies would only be permitted to detain a person past their scheduled release time if the individual is charged with or has a history of violent or serious offenses, and even then, only until 11:59 p.m. on the day of eligibility for release.
If approved by the Senate and signed by the governor, the bill package would mark one of the most sweeping state-level efforts in the country to restrict local participation in federal immigration enforcement.