In response to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s Fourth of July announcement of new initiatives tasked with building a more inclusive New Jersey for immigrants, ACLU-NJ Executive Director Amol Sinha made the following statement:

“Gov. Murphy has taken an important step toward making New Jersey a welcoming, equitable, inclusive place for immigrants. Appropriately, on the Fourth of July, this executive order underscores our most important values as Americans – principles that are all the more urgent at a time when the president has openly placed immigrants under a state of attack.

“The new Interagency Workgroup on New American Integration and the Office of New Americans, both tasked with welcoming new Americans, represent a tremendously important opportunity. These offices can help ensure that our state is not only welcoming refugees when they first arrive, but enabling immigrant communities to access the services and support that will help them flourish. These efforts will ultimately make New Jersey a better state for everyone.

“New Jersey’s Immigrant Trust Directive now protects the ability of state and local law enforcement to focus on their own mandates and end their collaboration with abusive federal immigration agencies. The next step for the state government is to ensure that all other agencies in the state can do the same.

“The ACLU-NJ and our partners in advocacy look forward to working closely with the Interagency Workgroup and the Office of New Americans to realize the promise of today’s announcement, and we offer our partnership and support in the development and implementation of these new initiatives. We will do everything in our power to ensure that immigrants know they will always be welcome in New Jersey.”