Biden-Appointed Judge Dismisses DOJ Lawsuit Against New Jersey Law Restricting ICE Operations
Authored by Troy Myers via The Epoch Times,
A district judge ruled on Friday that New Jersey can continue restricting federal immigration officers from using state property for immigration enforcement-related purposes.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) had accused New Jersey in a lawsuit of violating the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, also known as preemption, which holds that federal law supersedes state law when the two are in conflict.
The agency alleged that an executive order New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed earlier this year blocked federal immigration operations from using state property, preventing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from carrying out its duties.
Biden-appointed Judge Georgette Castner of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey disagreed.
"[The executive order] does not prevent the United States from carrying out federal immigration laws; rather, it declares that New Jersey will not provide its own resources to assist the United States in these efforts," said Castner.
The judge also dismissed DOJ lawyers' argument that adhering to federal immigration law, the Immigration and Nationality Act, specifically, was "impossible" because of the state restriction and prevented "the United States from accessing aliens."
"The Court finds this response unconvincing," Castner wrote. "The Court also finds no conflict preemption."
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
Under Sherrill's executive order, federal immigration officers are prohibited from using state property as a staging area, processing location for illegal immigrants, or operations base for carrying out enforcement.
The law also prevents any New Jersey executive branch departments or agencies from allowing federal authorities to use state property.
Sherrill included an exception in her order that allows access if authorized by a judicial warrant or order.
The governor welcomed Castner's decision in a Friday statement, criticizing federal immigration agents as "untrained."
"ICE is not making New Jersey's communities any safer," she said in a statement.
"My number one priority will always be to protect New Jerseyans, and I will continue to fight for safe communities for everyone in our state."
Although Castner conceded in her 30-page opinion that the federal government has an obligation to remove illegal immigrants from the United States, she wrote that "nothing in the [Immigration and Nationality Act] indicates that states are required to assist the federal government in meeting this obligation."
After the signing ceremony of her executive order earlier this year, Sherrill announced a website launch for New Jersey residents to report their interactions with ICE and upload photos and videos of officers.
Information submitted to the portal would be used by the state attorney general's office to potentially "hold the government accountable."
New Jersey has also adopted a mask ban on federal law enforcement officers and a requirement for them to show identification before making an arrest. The DOJ sued over that law as well.
The Garden State, and a few others, had already banned its local and state law enforcement agencies from cooperating with ICE, otherwise known as 287(g) agreements, prior to President Donald Trump's return to the White House last year.
Several more Democratic-led states have followed in outlawing such cooperation or attempting to do so since Trump, a Republican, began his second term and made it a priority to stop illegal immigration.