The Trump administration’s crackdown on sanctuary states just escalated — and this time, the target is New Jersey.
On February 24, President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice announced it has filed a sweeping lawsuit against the State of New Jersey and its Democrat governor, **Mikie Sherrill**, over what the DOJ describes as blatant interference with federal immigration enforcement.
At issue is New Jersey Executive Order No. 12, a directive that prohibits Immigration and Customs Enforcement from conducting arrests of criminal illegal aliens in nonpublic areas of state property, including state correctional facilities. In other words, the state is attempting to block federal agents from safely taking custody of individuals who are already behind bars.
The DOJ is calling that what it is: unlawful obstruction.
In its press release, the department stated, “Yesterday, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the State of New Jersey and New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill over New Jersey’s new Executive Order No. 12 that interferes with the federal government’s enforcement of its immigration laws.”
From Day One, the Trump administration has made border security and interior enforcement a top priority. That includes confronting so-called “sanctuary” jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal authorities. The administration has employed a range of strategies — negotiations, funding pressure, and litigation — to bring blue states into compliance with federal law.
Now, New Jersey finds itself squarely in the crosshairs.
According to the DOJ’s complaint, the governor’s executive order not only violates the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause but also puts the public at risk. By refusing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, the state is allegedly facilitating the release of criminal illegal aliens — including individuals convicted of aggravated assault, burglary, drug trafficking, and even human trafficking — back into communities instead of allowing ICE to take custody.
“Not only are New Jersey’s sanctuary policies illegal under federal law,” the DOJ said, “but, as alleged in the complaint, New Jersey’s refusal to cooperate with federal immigration authorities results in the release of dangerous criminals from police custody who would otherwise be subject to removal.”
Attorney General **Pam Bondi** did not mince words.
“Federal agents are risking their lives to keep New Jersey citizens safe, and yet New Jersey’s leaders are enacting policies designed to obstruct and endanger law enforcement,” Bondi said. “States may not deliberately interfere with our efforts to remove illegal aliens and arrest criminals — New Jersey’s sanctuary policies will not stand.”
The lawsuit asks the court to declare the executive order unconstitutional and to block its enforcement. The administration argues that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility — one that individual states cannot nullify simply because they disagree with the policy.
This legal action is not happening in isolation. The Civil Division of the DOJ has already filed similar suits targeting sanctuary policies in states and cities including New York, Minnesota, and Los Angeles. In several instances, the administration has secured victories forcing local officials to cooperate more closely with federal immigration authorities.
For supporters of the president’s agenda, the message is clear: the days of sanctuary states flouting federal law without consequence are over.
The battle over immigration enforcement is shaping up to be one of the defining legal and political fights of Trump’s presidency. And if this latest lawsuit is any indication, the administration is prepared to take that fight directly to the courts — and to the governors who stand in its way.
