I along with Assemblyman Andrzejczak and Assemblyman Land will not vote for any proposal to make New Jersey a sanctuary state. We are a nation of laws and rules and we cannot condone or support an effort to make New Jersey an outlier in this country and a jurisdiction that refuses compliance and cooperation with law enforcement authorities in enforcing federal immigration law.

Our state is already in dire financial straits. Serving as a sanctuary state will also mean added costs for programs and services that we cannot take on at this time.

The lack of action on immigration reform is a failure of the federal government, but it should not be our role as a state to become a sanctuary because of this failure.

Last week, Old Bridge Democrat Chairman Mark Razzoli, a career law enforcement officer, came out against making New Jersey a sanctuary state as well:

My 25 years in law enforcement gives me a unique understanding and perspective of the issues we face as a state and as a nation. However, I do disagree with the proposal to make New Jersey a sanctuary state and any implication to the contrary is categorically false.

Even Bill Clinton as president didn't support the idea of a sanctuary state, stating in his 1995 State of the Union address the country needs to "do more to speed the deportation of illegal aliens who are arrested for crimes."