After a raid at Jersey City light rail station earlier this month, Assembly members Ravi Bhalla and Katie Brennan (D-32) are sponsoring a bill package to combat U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

By John Heinis/Hudson County View

Joining them in sponsoring the three bills are Assemblywomen Annette Quijano (D-20) and Alixon Collazos-Gill (D-27).

“ICE has no place in our communities. When I was elected Mayor eight years ago, my very first act was to sign an Executive Order declaring Hoboken to be a sanctuary city. Now, the stakes are even higher, and it is incumbent on all of us to use the power we have to keep our residents safe, Bhalla said in a statement.

“These bills help make it clear that whether it’s ongoing attempts at mass incarceration of immigrants in private prison camps, or ICE agents seeking employment as local police officers and teachers, we will fight tooth and nail to protect the interests of New Jersey residents.”

The three bills include taxing private detention profiteers, A-4300.

This would impose a 50 percent tax on the gross receipts of private carceral facilities operating in New Jersey under contracts with government entities, and redirect all proceeds into a new “Immigrant Protection Fund.”

That fund would be dedicated exclusively to immigration services for New Jersey residents.

The bill package also would protect crime scenes from ICE interference, A-4301.

This legislation would authorize all state, county, and municipal law enforcement officers to access crime scenes and evidence within their jurisdiction, and make it a criminal offense for any person, including a federal officer, to block that access.

The final bill, A-4302, would ban ICE Agents from public employment.

That would disqualify ICE agents and officers who served between September 1st, 2025 and January 20th, 2029 from holding employment as state employees, local government employees, law enforcement officers, or teachers in New Jersey.

“When you have ICE agents gloating to elected officials they don’t need warrants to kidnap people off the street, it’s all the proof we need that these aren’t law enforcement agents. We can’t sit back and do nothing while they violate people’s constitutional rights,” Brennan said in reference to the viral video of ICE agents confronting Jersey City Ward D Councilman Jake Ephros.

“Actions have to have consequences. No more profiting from detention centers, no more obstructing access to crime scenes, and say goodbye to ever wearing a badge or teaching a child in New Jersey if you participate in an ICE raid.”

The four sponsors also said that the proposed legislation comes in response to ICE performing warrantless raids, deploying masked agents in unmarked cars, and targeting residents outside of their workplaces and children’s schools.

“No matter what language someone speaks, where they were born, or what they believe, every person deserves protection under the law. The bills we are introducing will go beyond protecting our immigrant communities. They will protect our civil liberties and ensure federal officers work with, not against, our communities,” noted Quijano.

“The actions at the light rail station reflected intimidation under the false pretense of protecting the public. When masked agents in unmarked vehicles detain people without clear identification or transparency, that erodes trust and undermines the very principles our Constitution is built on. New Jersey will not be complicit in fear-based tactics that target our immigrant families. This legislative package makes it evident that public spaces are for our communities, not for federal overreach,” expressed Collazos-Gill.

Furthermore, state Senator Raj Mukherji (D-32) has committed to sponsoring all three bills in Trenton’s upper chamber.

“As ICE targets far right extremists for recruitment and continues to sow seeds of chaos throughout the country, disregarding the Constitution and practices widely accepted by law enforcement, states are forced to take action to ensure these rogue personnel are bound to the law and held accountable,” he declared.

“In New Jersey, we value the rule of law and human rights.”

The bill package also complements pending legislation introduced by Quijano, Bill A-4078, to ban ICE from using state-owned property as staging areas for enforcement operations.

It does the same for Mukherji’s bill creating a private right of action for New Jersey residents to sue ICE agents who violate their constitutional rights during enforcement activities.