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On Monday, the final day of the current New Jersey legislative session, lawmakers in the General Assembly and state Senate passed three bills designed to strengthen public trust and safety in immigrant communities across the Garden State, and to protect them from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and roundups.

To become law, the legislation must be signed by outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy before he leaves office Jan. 20. New Jersey has the second-largest immigrant population in the country after California.

The Safe Communities Act requires the state attorney general to develop a plan for how sensitive locations such as public schools, health care facilities and houses of worship would interact with federal immigration authorities without deterring community members from seeking services or engaging with them.

The act mandates that the commissioners of Community Affairs, Children and Families, Health, Human Services, Education and Corrections, as well as the administrative director of the courts, adopt the attorney general’s model policies, or policies to provide greater protection for community members, and to prominently display them in public-facing areas.

The Privacy Protection Act limits the collection and sharing of data by federal government and health care entities to ensure that Jersey residents are not discouraged from seeking necessary services.

The third measure codifies the attorney general’s Immigrant Trust Directive, which draws a clear distinction between state, county and local law enforcement officers — who are responsible for enforcing state criminal law — and federal immigration authorities, including ICE, who enforce federal civil immigration law. The bill limits the voluntary assistance that state law enforcement officers may provide to federal authorities. The directive, which is designed to foster trust between police and community members, has withstood legal challenges by state and federal courts since it was issued in 2018.

From Camden and Cherry Hill to Trenton and the Jersey Shore, what about life in New Jersey do you want WHYY News to cover? Let us know.

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette have filed a public nuisance lawsuit against EMR, the operator of a metal scrapyard in Camden’s Waterfront South neighborhood.

The suit, filed Monday in Superior Court, alleges that at least 12 hazardous fires took place at the facility in the last five years, including a massive fire last February that prompted dozens of nearby residents to evacuate. The yard has been cited for numerous violations in the past.

Officials want EMR to take immediate action to end hazardous conditions at its facilities. They allege the fires were a result of EMR creating a high risk of fires on its lots, and that despite knowing about the risks, EMR failed to take corrective action.

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