TRENTON, NJ — Gov. Mikie Sherrill declared that “ICE is not making New Jersey’s communities any safer” after a federal judge dismissed the Trump administration’s challenge to her immigration-enforcement order. Sherrill called the decision another victory over the president.
“That’s why I signed an Executive Order restricting access to nonpublic state property by its untrained agents,” Sherrill said. “Once again, Trump tried to stop us, and once again we won.”
The ruling concerned Executive Order No. 12, not every New Jersey policy commonly described as a sanctuary measure. The order bars federal immigration officers from using nonpublic areas of state-controlled property for civil enforcement without a judicial warrant, judicial order or another specified exception.
ICE can still enter areas open to the public, execute valid judicial warrants and participate in joint criminal task forces. The order also does not block New Jersey authorities from enforcing state criminal laws.
Acting Attorney General Jennifer Davenport called the federal lawsuit “baseless” and said the dismissal affirmed the order’s legality. The Justice Department filed its challenge after arguing that New Jersey was obstructing federal enforcement and making controlled jail transfers more difficult.
The political victory came days after a 9-month-old boy died in a Jackson Township parking lot crash. The fatal collision happened outside the NPGS grocery store on West County Line Road, not in Lakewood.
Prosecutors charged Maria CobonGuzman, 20, with manslaughter, two counts of assault by auto and driving without ever having held a valid license during a fatal crash. Ariadna Lazaro-Flores, 22, of Toms River, faces a charge alleging that she knowingly created a substantial risk of death by allowing CobonGuzman to drive despite knowing she was unlicensed.
An Ocean County judge ordered both women held pending trial. Updated jail records showed ICE detainers against both defendants, but a detainer alone does not establish a person’s complete immigration history.
ICE Newark also publicized several August enforcement actions involving people arrested or convicted in New Jersey. Those announcements documented immigration arrests, not completed deportations.
Agents arrested Ahmed Mohamed Abdelrahman, an Egyptian national, on Aug. 6, one day after lodging an immigration detainer against him. Jersey City police had arrested Abdelrahman on Aug. 4 on a terroristic-threats charge alleging that he purposely threatened imminent death to place another person in fear.
The local charge remains an accusation. ICE described Abdelrahman as unlawfully present but did not announce that federal authorities had removed him from the United States.
ICE agents also took Monishkumar Kirankumar Doshi Shah, an Indian national, into custody Aug. 5 after his release from federal prison. Unlike Abdelrahman, Shah entered immigration custody after serving time for federal convictions.
Shah pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and operating and aiding an unlicensed money-transmitting business. The international jewelry-fraud case involved approximately $13.5 million in imported jewelry and more than $10.3 million in unlicensed financial transactions.
A federal judge sentenced Shah to 30 months in prison and two years of supervised release. The court also ordered him to pay $742,500 in restitution and forfeit more than $11.1 million.
