Mikie Sherrill, the newly inaugurated Democratic governor of New Jersey, said that her administration would soon begin collecting images of federal agents interacting with the public, cementing the state’s growing opposition to President Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Ms. Sherrill, who was sworn in this month, made the announcement on Wednesday during an appearance on “The Daily Show,” urging residents to use their cellphones to record immigration officers. State officials said that they would soon create a portal that could be used to upload footage of the encounters. New Jersey is also planning to ban Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from carrying out operations on state property.
“If you see an ICE agent in the street, get your phone out,” Ms. Sherrill said during the segment. “We want to know.”
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security criticized Ms. Sherrill’s announcement and said that federal officials had a duty to enforce the country’s laws.
“New Jersey will be less safe as a direct result of these policies,” the statement said. “Our partnerships with state and local law enforcement are key to removing criminal illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members and terrorists from American communities.
“When politicians bar local law enforcement from working with us, that is when we have to have a more visible presence so that we can find and apprehend the criminals let out of jails and back into communities,” the statement continued.
Sean Higgins, a spokesman for Ms. Sherrill, said that the governor was trying to protect New Jersey residents from federal overreach. State officials will use the database to track the activity of federal agents as they work to deport more immigrants.
In neighboring New York, the attorney general, Letitia James, has created a similar portal to collect photos and videos of ICE officials to determine whether they were breaking the law during enforcement actions.
Ms. James set up the portal in October after more than 50 federal agents descended on a stretch of Canal Street that is famous for the African men and Chinese women who sell bootleg luxury merchandise to tourists. The raid caused outrage in the city, and several hundred protesters rallied at 26 Federal Plaza, the New York City headquarters of ICE.
After winning key races in November, Democrats in New Jersey tried to strengthen immigrant protections in a state with one of the highest percentages of immigrants in the country. This month, lawmakers passed three measures to reinforce existing protections and to make it more difficult for federal agents to target undocumented immigrants for deportation. But in his final hours as governor, Ms. Sherrill’s predecessor, Philip D. Murphy, vetoed two of the bills. The bill that Mr. Murphy did sign into law protects the rights of undocumented residents at schools, courthouses and health care facilities.
Immigration had been a divisive issue in the governor’s race, and before taking office, Ms. Sherrill had carefully avoided taking a clear position on the state’s Immigrant Trust Directive, a policy enacted in 2018 that limits the help that local law enforcement officers can offer to federal immigration agents. Her Republican opponent, Jack Ciattarelli, had vowed to repeal the directive as he tried to appeal to voters supportive of Mr. Trump’s efforts to curb illegal immigration.
The response to the actions of federal immigration officers has gained urgency since the killing of Renee Good, a U.S. citizen who was shot during an enforcement action in Minneapolis. Less than three weeks later, agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse.
In her television appearance, Ms. Sherrill said that agents have acted dangerously and with impunity, pointing to the killing of Ms. Good, a mother of three, and Mr. Pretti. She also said that federal officials have not been transparent about who they are arresting, at times detaining American citizens. Ms. Sherrill referred to federal immigration officials as a secret police force because many agents cover their faces while conducting raids and wear tactical gear without identifying insignia.
“We want documentation,” Ms. Sherrill said. “We are going to make sure we get it.”
Ana Ley is a Times reporter covering immigration in New York City.
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