A federal lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice accuses four New Jersey cities — Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, and Hoboken — of violating federal law by refusing to cooperate with immigration enforcement authorities.
The lawsuit, which was filed on May 22 in federal court in Newark, targets the “sanctuary” city policies, which federal officials say obstruct efforts to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants accused of committing crimes.
“Where inaction crosses into obstruction, local governments break federal law,” the complaint states. “That is what is happening across New Jersey right now. It is past time it ends.”
The Justice Department under President Donald Trump‘s administration argues that these policies are not only unlawful but also dangerous.
“This not only puts the safety of officers at risk, but also endangers the broader communities they are sworn to protect,” the complaint says.
A sanctuary city policy is when local government limits cooperation with federal immigration authorities, often to protect undocumented immigrants from deportation and to build trust between immigrant communities and local police.
According to the complaint, the four cities are refusing to hold individuals for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unless presented with a criminal warrant signed by a judge.
The cities also restrict the sharing of information about individuals’ immigration status and deny ICE agents access to local jails unless a court order is provided, the lawsuit alleges.
Federal officials claim these measures have already led to the release of individuals arrested for domestic violence and theft, despite ICE detainers.
The federal government is asking the court to strike down the sanctuary city policies and block the cities from enforcing them.
City leaders argue that their policies are about protecting residents’ rights and ensuring equal treatment under the law.
The four mayors have come out strongly challenging the premisee of the lawsuit, denying that their polices pose a danger.
Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, who declared Hoboken a “Fair and Welcoming City” in his first act as mayor in 2018, issued a strong rebuttal to the lawsuit.
“The City of Hoboken will vigorously work to defend our rights, have our day in court, and defeat the Trump Administration’s lawlessness,” Bhalla said. “To be clear: we will not back down.”
Calling the lawsuit “absurd,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka also defended his city’s stance.
“Nothing in our policies prevents law enforcement from doing their jobs,” Baraka said. “What we refuse to do is turn our city into an arm of federal immigration enforcement, which the courts have already ruled is not our role.”
Baraka also pushed back against claims that sanctuary policies compromise public safety, calling such accusations not only offensive but outright false.
He emphasized statistics that show immigrants are more likely to be victims of crime than perpetrators and said there is no evidence that sanctuary policies make communities less safe.
“In fact,” Baraka noted, “we’ve reduced homicides by 61 percent since I became mayor.”
Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh echoed that sentiment, calling the lawsuit “a frivolous lawsuit and a flagrant affront to the rule of law.”
“We will not be intimidated, and we will fight this egregious attempt to score political points at Paterson’s expense,” he added.
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop said in a post on X: “Jersey City gets sued for being a sanctuary city — I guess MAGA ran out of conspiracy theories for the week."
“Here is the truth: Jersey City’s policies protect families, reflect our values and have led to record low crime rates. As governor, I won’t be bullied. We’ll fight this — and win.”
Both Baraka and Fulop are running for the Democratic nomination for governor in the June 10 primary.
Amy Torres, executive director of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, also criticized the lawsuit.
“Over the last few months, the federal government seems dead-set on defining itself by how many fights they can pick with New Jersey,” Torres said. “Unfortunately for them, our state leaders don’t take kindly to bullying.”
“Now is the time for New Jersey leaders to stand up in defense of immigrant communities, who make up nearly a quarter of the state,” Torres added. “It’s time for New Jersey to show the rest of the country what resistance to authoritarianism looks like.”
In New Jersey, local law enforcement are not allowed to stop, question, arrest, search or detain an individual on sole suspicion of being undocumented under what’s known as the state’s Immigrant Trust Directive.
It’s an order from the State Attorney General’s office and one of the stated intents of the law is to establish that undocumented people can come forward with crime reports without fear of being deported.
The state Attorney General’s Office said Friday that the directive has already been previously held up in court.
State Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s office noted that the state is not named in the lawsuit.
“The Third Circuit has already upheld the State’s Immigrant Trust Directive, which ensures that our police officers can effectively tackle violent crime, gun violence, and drug trafficking, while ensuring that victims and witnesses can safely come forward to report crimes regardless of their immigration status,” the office said in a statement.
The U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment on the case.