“What I think the federal government needs to be focused on right now, instead of attacking states like New Jersey working to keep people safe, is actually training their ICE agents,” newly-elected New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said.
The Trump administration is suing New Jersey over a recently-issued state-level order prohibiting federal immigration agents from making arrests in spaces like correctional facilities and courthouses.
According to NBC News, the U.S. Department of Justice filed the lawsuit on Monday.
In court documents, the Justice Department challenged provisions of Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s February 11 executive order. Sherrill’s order is limited in scope, but it broadly prohibits immigration officers from conducting arrests in the non-public areas of state-owned properties.
The same order bars the use of all state property as staging or processing areas for immigration enforcement operations.
“Today, we are making clear that the Trump administration’s lawless actions will not go unchecked in New Jersey,” Sherrill said in a February press release announcing the executive order. “Given ICE’s willingness to flout the Constitution and violently endanger communities — detaining children, arresting citizens, and even killing several innocent civilians — I will stand up for New Jerseyans right to be safe.”
The Trump administration now claims that Sherrill “insists on harboring criminal offenders from federal law enforcement” and says that the governor is actively trying to obstruct federal law enforcement.
Sherrill’s order, the Justice Department argues, “poses an intolerable obstacle” to immigration enforcement because it “directly regulates and discriminates” against the federal government.
“Such blatant disregard for federal laws that have been on the books for over three decades is not merely a political statement, but is instead deliberate action that jeopardizes the public safety of all Americans. But the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution prohibits a state from usurping Congress,” the lawsuit alleges.
NBC News notes that the lawsuit repeatedly misspelled Sherrill’s name as “Sherill.”
“Governor Mikie Sherill aims to intentionally obstruct federal law enforcement and celebrates thwarting the constitutional obligation of the President of the United States to take care that federal immigration law be faithfully executed,” the Justice Department wrote.
In response to the lawsuit, Sherrill shot back with a suggestion.
“What I think the federal government needs to be focused on right now, instead of attacking states like New Jersey working to keep people safe, is actually training their ICE agents,” she said.
The state’s acting attorney general, Jennifer Davenport, said that the administration is, in essence, “wasting its resources on a pointless legal challenge” that it will almost certainly lose.
In the meantime, Davenport said, New Jersey will fight the lawsuit and “continue to ensure the safety of our state’s immigrant communities.”
Sources
Trump administration sues New Jersey over executive order banning ICE from some state property
Trump administration sues New Jersey over restrictions on immigration arrests
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