New Jersey
New Jersey Becomes the 10th State with a Law Barring Local ICE Contracts – Bolts
New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill on Wednesday signed legislation banning local law enforcement agencies from partnering with federal immigration authorities, making it the 10th state to adopt laws that prohibit such collaboration.
The new law codifies a 2018 order by then-Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, known as the Immigrant Trust Directive. That directive barred state and local authorities from entering into ICE’s 287(g) program, which deputizes local officers to enforce federal immigration laws. It also restricted law enforcement from detaining people on ICE’s behalf and asking about citizenship status when it doesn’t relate to a criminal investigation.
The directive forced several local sheriffs to end their partnerships with ICE but it was not codified into law, worrying immigrants’ rights advocates that a governor and attorney general more favorable to Donald Trump’s deportation agenda could come into office and undo those rules. The GOP’s candidate for governor last fall campaigned on ending the 2018 directive and ramping up partnerships with ICE, but he lost to Sherrill by a large margin.
Nedia Morsy, director of immigrant advocacy organization Make the Road New Jersey, told Bolts that the adoption of the law this week signals that “the state legislature and the [Sherrill] administration is recognizing that there is rising authoritarianism and there is a need to act.”
New Jersey joins nine other blue states—California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Maine, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington—in prohibiting participation in the 287(g) program. It’s the fourth state to do this so far this year.
Four states governed by Democrats, including neighboring Massachusetts and New York, still have local or state agencies with 287(g) contracts, though a bill to restrict those agreements is currently on the governor’s desk in Virginia.
Sherrill also signed two other pieces of legislation aimed at protecting New Jersey’s immigrants: The Privacy Protection Act, which restricts when local and state agencies can collect information about immigration status or share it with the federal government; another law requires ICE agents to show their faces and provide identification before making an arrest.
“My focus as governor remains on keeping the public safe,” Sherrill said in a statement her spokesperson sent to Bolts on Wednesday after the governor signed the legislation. “As we’ve seen across the country, Donald Trump’s untrained, unaccountable, masked ICE agents are putting people in danger. That’s why in New Jersey, we are protecting our communities—strengthening our protections, banning ICE agents from wearing masks, and protecting residents’ privacy from federal overreach.”
Immigrant rights advocates in New Jersey had long pushed for legislation guarding against ICE abuses, and in January lawmakers passed another bill that codified the Immigrant Trust Directive and also created additional protections.
In one of his final acts in office, Democratic Governor Phil Murphy vetoed the legislation, saying he feared that it would prompt new lawsuits from the Trump administration. Two federal courts, including a Trump-appointed judge, have already upheld the AG’s existing directive, but Murphy said provisions of the bill went beyond that directive and could still invite legal challenges.
The legislation signed by Sherrill more closely mirrors the Immigrant Trust Directive than the bill that Murphy vetoed in January.
While the legislation still largely prohibits local authorities from keeping someone in jail just because ICE requests it, the version Sherrill signed allows for broader exceptions because it says jails can honor ICE’s detention requests when someone is subject to a final order of removal. Jails can also honor these requests when someone has been convicted of a crime.
In a public statement on Wednesday, Sherrill sounded defiant about defeating any lawsuits over the reform.
“We know the Trump administration has challenged some of these measures in the past,” the governor wrote. “We beat them in court then—and we’re happy to meet them in court again if they decide to sue now.”
New Jersey already banned local jails and sheriffs from entering into Intergovernmental Service Agreements, or IGSAs, to rent out space for ICE to detain immigrants, but a federal appeals court last year allowed private detention centers to continue operating in the state. The centers have drawn large protests over the last year.
Immigrants’ rights advocates say they’ll keep pressing for additional protections in the state. “As the Trump administration attempts to erode due process protections, it is more important than ever that New Jersey affirmatively stands up for them,” said Ami Kachalia, campaign strategist for the ACLU of New Jersey. She would like to see increased funding for immigrants facing deportations to access legal counsel.
Morsy said that Make the Road New Jersey will continue to educate local officials on how they can protect against ICE. In Hoboken, for example, the city council adopted an ordinance that restricts the city from using its resources on federal immigration enforcement.
She said her organization plans to stress to local officials that they shouldn’t provide assistance to ICE unless there’s a warrant signed by a judge. They could also agree to commit to reviewing all of their vendors to ensure that data isn’t being shared with ICE, Morsy added.
“I do think it’s important to remember that these bills set a standard for protection, but they aren’t the ceiling,” she said. “Elected officials at all levels of government have the opportunity and are still called to make a very honest assessment about the need and the urgency to go beyond this standard.”
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It’s been nearly a decade and a half since the Brooklyn Nets moved out of New Jersey.
The organization has completely revamped its vibe since switching states, ditching the red, white and blue look for a very basic black and white colorway.
The Nets have also intermittently changed the colors of the banners hanging up in the Barclays Center from red, white and blue to black and white, much to the chagrin of traditional Nets fans.
Despite the Nets now playing in a bigger market and being far removed from their days in the Garden State, some fans seem to hope for the Nets to make their return across the river. New Jersey governor Mikie Sherrill was asked about the matter.
“I mean, would I support it? I ask about it all the time,” Sherrill said. “I love the idea. So, I have been pressing for that. I haven’t made a lot of headway yet; you know, maybe in my second 100 days.
“But I do think there is some work being done for some — I don’t know if I’m allowed to say too much about it — but some people are working on some different sports coming into the Rock.”
As time went on, the Nets eventually started to embrace more of their New Jersey roots, which started when they rocked a clean tie-dye jersey from the 90s during the 2020-21 season.
The next season, the Nets followed it up with uniforms commemorating their run in the 2000s, when the team got to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003 and endlessly broke the ESPN top 10 with each crazy Jason Kidd assist and Vince Carter dunk.
It’s fitting that Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the latter of whom grew up in New Jersey as a Nets fan, got to rock these uniforms, helping boost the popularity of the New Jersey brand to a wide array of fans.
True Nets fans embraced the Continental Airlines Arena/Izod Center and the swamps of East Rutherford, getting to witness a winning basketball team for a fraction of the cost of the team mired in dysfunction that happened to play their home games at “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”
Not many marquee free agents would have signed up to play in New Jersey, but real fans remember the good times in the swamps, especially with Sly the Fox as the team’s mascot. Those times deserve to be remembered properly.
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ATLANTIC COUNTY, N.J. (WPVI) — Drivers heading to the shore on Friday afternoon saw slow-moving traffic for several miles coming off the Walt Whitman bridge, but many travelers said the start of the holiday weekend was smoother than they anticipated.
Aldara Madden, who was traveling with her friend Elana Maser, said the trip moved faster than she expected.
“I was expecting it to take a lot longer,” she said.
Maser added that they left school early to avoid delays.
“My mom and I do that every year and then we always stop here as our little pre-down the shore,” she said.
Others shared similar experiences.
“I’m coming from Bucks County, so I was worried there was gonna be some traffic but it really wasn’t bad at all,” said Erin McFadden of Churchville, who was headed to Ocean City.
AAA reported that while slightly more people are traveling by car this year compared to last, 2026 is projected to have the lowest year-over-year travel growth rate in more than a decade, excluding the steep drop seen in 2020 during the pandemic.
The organization attributes the slowdown largely to concerns over rising prices.
“Gas is ridiculously expensive and I think all the time before going anywhere these days,” said Debbie Maser of Philadelphia. “But this is our happy place and nothing can keep us away.”
A dreary weekend forecast may also be influencing travel patterns.
“I was thinking that, I wonder if there’ll be less congestion on the roads because of the weather,” said Kyra Wolin of Massachusetts. “It’s not looking to be too good this weekend with the rain.”
Still, many shore-bound travelers said tradition outweighs any concerns about rain or crowds.
“No not at all. You go down. You get it done,” said George Miller of Lansdale.
Eric Wolin of Massachusetts agreed: “Never, never. Margate’s a special place for us.”
As the unofficial start of summer begins, travelers said they remain committed to kicking off the season in their favorite spots, not letting rain, traffic, or high prices keep them away.
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This story is part of the WHYY News Climate Desk, bringing you news and solutions for our changing region.
From the Poconos to the Jersey Shore to the mouth of the Delaware Bay, what do you want to know about climate change? What would you like us to cover? Get in touch.
As summer begins, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill is urging residents to limit lawn watering, and hand water flowers and shrubs as a drought warning continues. The warning, in place since December 2025, could turn into a drought emergency if conditions do not improve. The state has suffered eight consecutive months of below-normal rainfall, according to officials.
“New Jersey is experiencing a chronic water supply drought, the scale of which we haven’t seen in more than twenty years,” state geologist Steven Domber said in a statement issued earlier this month. “The indicators that we track closely are showing persistently dry conditions. With uncertainty for rainfall in the coming months, we need residents to conserve water today, to ensure we have enough to sustain our needs over the summer.”
The Department of Environmental Protection uses a variety of indicators to determine drought levels, including precipitation, stream flows, reservoir levels, ground water levels and demand.
In addition to the last two months, officials say, the state “experienced below normal precipitation for 20 of the last 24 months since September 2024,” despite heavy snowfall events this past winter that helped restore reservoirs in North Jersey.
“While we saw a little relief over the winter, New Jersey is feeling the effects of nearly two years of below-normal precipitation,” Sherrill said in a statement earlier this month. She urged residents to voluntarily conserve water.
New Jersey state climatologist David Robinson said that since precipitation has been below normal for most of the last 24 months, the recent winter weather did not provide enough water to help restore streams and groundwater.
Should a drought emergency be declared, mandatory water restrictions would be put in place. The last drought emergency lasted almost a year, between March 2002 and January 2003.
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