On Friday, the Norris McLaughlin Immigration Blog reported that New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced that New Jersey would become a “sanctuary state” in implementing the “Immigrant Trust Directive.” In response, NBC Philadelphia reported that Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) has threatened to increase immigration raids throughout New Jersey.

In an email to NBC Philadelphia, ICE spokesman Emilio Dabul said that “[t]he probability is that large arrests and worksite enforcement operations, which already exist, will likely increase due to the fact that ICE [Enforcement & Removal Operations] will no longer have the cooperation of the jails related to immigration enforcement.” Dabul wrote that ICE’s “highest priority is public safety and enforcing immigration laws, we must pursue that to the best extent possible, which will likely involve more at large arrests and worksite enforcement operations.”

New Jersey employers are urged to be proactive in ensuring employee immigration compliance, including retaining outside immigration compliance counsel to conduct random Form I-9 audits. New Jersey immigrants who either lack status or have concerns about their immigration status are encouraged to contact competent immigration counsel.

To read about the Attorney General’s directive and the restrictions it places on local, county, and state law enforcement officials in cooperating with ICE, click here.

To learn more about this or any other immigration matter, please feel free to contact me at rglahoud@norris-law.com.