MERCER COUTNY, NJ — The Trenton City Council passed an ordinance Tuesday blocking cooperation between the city's police department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to Resistencia en Acción NJ, an immigrant advocacy organization that helped push for the measure.
The ordinance codifies the New Jersey Immigrant Trust Act and establishes clear distinctions between judicial and administrative warrants to prevent local police from assisting ICE, particularly when administrative warrants are involved.
The measure came after organizers from Resistencia en Acción NJ and Trenton community members testified at city meetings about the impact of immigration enforcement operations in the city and called for policies limiting local police cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
"Our fight to keep protecting each other in our communities continues," said Ana Paola Pazmiño, executive director of Resistencia en Acción NJ. "At a time when our people are under attack, we will use every resource on a grassroots and legislative level to pass as many ordinances as possible to expel ICE from our neighborhoods. When we organize, we win, and today we have won more protections for our immigrant brothers and sisters."
Marta, a Trenton community member who did not provide her last name, said the ordinance brought some measure of relief. "Now the people in our community will have a bit more trust; we are not fully safe yet, but at least we can go to work with some relief."
Advocates said they plan to continue engaging with elected officials and municipalities throughout Mercer County to promote similar policies limiting cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.
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