New Jersey Immigrant Advocates Respond To Overwhelmingly False Claims In DOJ Lawsuit Against Immigrant Trust Directive

NEW JERSEY– Tuesday, February 11th, 2020–On Monday, February 10th, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed its lawsuit with multiple false and misleading claims against New Jersey’s Immigrant Trust Directive. In response, Johanna Calle, director of New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice released the following statement,

“The Trump administration’s DOJ lawsuit is filled with egregious falsehoods. The directive to New Jersey law enforcement is clear and straightforward. It simply directs local police departments to use their already limited resources for protecting their local jurisdictions and investigating local crimes rather than doing the work of federal immigration enforcement agents.

“Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal agency that continues to separates families, violates civil rights, and perpetuates violence in our communities, including the latest shooting of an unarmed Brooklyn man in his face by an ICE agent. When local and state law enforcement officers work with ICE, they are put at risk of violating the constitution.

“New Jersey, like many other states and localities, has chosen not to participate in federal immigration enforcement. The lawsuit is yet another politically fueled and ultimately futile attack by the Trump administration to use politically divisive rhetoric to push for xenophobic immigration policies. However, New Jerseyans have made it blatantly clear time and time again that we stand with immigrants and we do not want our law enforcement doing the work of federal agents to enforce federal immigration laws. ”

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The New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice is a statewide membership-based coalition of organizations that creates and achieves policies in New Jersey that welcome and support immigrants to become rooted economically, politically and socially within the state.