New Jersey Democratic Gubernatorial candidates promised to help illegal immigrants Avoid the ice attacks of President Donald Trump during the first primary debate of the year of the Garden State.
Five of the six candidates lit up their hands when Joey Fox, New Jersey Globe Political Reporter and Debate Moderator, the Democrats on stage asked if they ‘believe that one of the goals of the next Governor should protect immigrants in New Jersey, even Those who are those here illegal. “
Rep. Mikie Sherrill did not put her hand up and instead responded: “We have to protect people in New Jersey, especially with the constitution.”
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Ice officers arrested seven illegal immigrants during a raid on a workforce. (American immigration and customs enforcement)
The question led to less debate and more a united front when candidates promised to stand against Trump, dedicated to an extensive reform of immigration and promised to prioritize humanity in the deportation process.
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President Donald Trump signs the Riley Act cloth in the White House, Wednesday 29 January 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Candidates, however, found a main ground when discussing the Riley Act cloth, the first bill Trump During his second term signed that holds illegal immigrants who are accused of committing dangerous crimes.
“If you are a murderer, a criminal, a rapist, if you take people in the houses of people in the middle of the night with a gun while the children sleep, and you are not documented, you should not be here. State, you should not be in this country. Josh Gottheimer, who voted to support the Riley Act cloth in the American house of representatives.
Despite the support of Gottheimer before the law, he was careful to distinguish “innocent people without papers” from those who commit violent crimes. “When I am Governor, I will use the full power of the state to stop” Trump to “complete innocent people without papers” in restaurants, churches and schools, the congressman clarified.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer speaks after the Democratic gubernatorial debate at Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, on 2 February 2025. (AP/Mike Catalini)
The Trump government does not recognize such a distinction. White House Pers Secretary Karoline Leavitt Reporters said last Tuesday that someone in the United States is illegally considered a criminal.
“They have illegally violated the laws of our nation, and that is why they are criminals, as far as this administration goes,” Leavitt said at a now viral moment. “I know that the last government did not see it that way, so it is a great culture shift in our nation to see someone who breaks our immigration laws like a criminal. But that is exactly what they are.”
Mayor Steve Fulop of Jersey City did not shared the support of Gottheimer for the Riley Act cloth and called it ‘dangerous’.
“The Laeken Riley Act served to undermine the authority of the attorney general here in New Jersey,” Fulop said. “It is a very dangerous piece of legislation because it relates to the autonomy of the governor and the attorney general here, and it should not have been supported.”
On 2 February 2025, Burgemeester Ras Baraka of Newark speaks after the democratic debate in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. (AP Photo/Mike Catalini)
Mayor of Newark Ras Baraka, a vocal opponent of the ice rays authorized in his city during the first week of Trump, went a step further against the bill.
“You can’t say that you support immigrants in New Jersey, but vote for the Riley Act cloth,” said Baraka. “We have to stop having this conversation about people who are murderers and murderers and rapists and criminals. We know that is a lie. There is no crime wave of immigrants in New Jersey.”
Baraka went so far that he said that Trump’s political agenda was rooted in ‘white supremation and racism’.
“It is interesting that we continue to say that people here are illegal when we continue to move the target post,” said Baraka. “If we take away all the paths that people become documented citizens of the United States and then say they are illegal, it is a problem. We cannot risk the fourth and 14th amendment to push this political agenda in which Donald Trump is really based in White supremacy and racism “
“It’s wrong to sit here and having a debate about crime that immigrants that we know are not true. The crime ensures that people do not have access to the American dream because of what they look like, the country they have Come from the language they speak, and the zip code in which they live.
Officers of Border Patrol and the FBI conduct immigration enforcement in El Paso, Texas on Thursday, January 30, 2025. (FBI)
Former President of the Senate of New Jersey said Steve Sweeney that New Jersey should yield the deportations of Trump, emphasizing the lack of legal searches in these ice attacks. Sbeeney, however, agreed that someone with a criminal record that enters the United States or “someone who breaks the law in this country should not be in this country”, calls it a “privilege.”
“With Donald Trump we all have to stand and resist what Donald Trump does. He breaks the law. He does it illegally. He does it without legal searching. It is terrible what he does.” Sleeney said.
“I support what President Barack Obama and Senator Joe Biden did. Both presidents happen to be Democrats who deported more people than Donald Trump ever did, but they did it with humanity and compassion and they did it in the right way. We don me Do not want to collect people who have done nothing wrong, but people who have violated the law in this country, I am sorry that they have to leave it … They violate the laws, and we have to keep them responsible, “Sweeney added.
Former Senate President Steve Sweeney speaks after the Democratic debate on 2 February 2025. (AP Photo/Mike Catalini)
New Jersey President Sean Spiller of the Education Association repeated Sweeney’s aversion to Trump’s inhuman deportations and told New Jerseyans that they should be afraid.
“They come for all of us, and everyone should scare that. That is unacceptable. That is where we stand up and fight against,” said Spiller.
Despite the fact that he has taken on a hard line against President Trump, the democratic candidates acknowledged the reform of immigration as a necessity.
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“I think what is missing so often in the conversation, the fundamental humanity,” Sherrill said. “We urgently need an extensive reform of immigration. We have to ensure that people have a road to citizenship that are here, who work hard, who pay taxes, DACA recipients, TPS recipients. We also need better limit protection We have to know what is about our border “
