(The Center Square) — Democratic New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill is pumping more taxpayer money and resources into a state program that provides legal defense for immigrants facing deportation proceedings.
Sherrill announced a $12 million increase in state funding for the Detention Deportation Defense Initiative, or DDDI, bringing the pool of money to pay for immigrant representation to more than $20 million.
In addition, Sherrill also announced a new “Rapid Legal Response Initiative” to intervene in cases where New Jersey residents are detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials or facing deportation proceedings.
“Every person deserves to be treated with dignity, and to the rights enshrined in our Constitution — the rights I swore to protect when I served in the Navy, the U.S. Attorney’s office, and as an elected official,” Sherrill said in a statement. “These include access to due process and a fair hearing under the law, regardless of where you were born.”
The DDDI, created in 2018, provides free, expert legal counsel to low-income New Jersey residents at risk of deportation or facing removal proceedings who do not have access to legal counsel.
“As the Trump Administration makes it more difficult for members of our community to challenge detention and deportation, access to qualified legal representation has never been more important,” Sherrill said.
The move follows weeks of often violent protests outside ICE’s Delaney Hall, where about 300 detainees are being held, amid claims by families of “inhumane” and “unsanitary conditions” in the facility. Dozens have been arrested after Sherrill called in the state police to intervene in the demonstrations.
The Department of Homeland Security has pushed back on the claims of mistreatment and substandard conditions in the privately run New Jersey facility, and says detainees are allowed to access immigration lawyers and provided with due process.
Backers of Sherrill’s decision, including Senate President Nick Scutari, cited the treatment of Delaney Hall inmates, which he said is “offensive to all of us who value human dignity and respect the basic rights of those who are held by the Justice system in this country.”
Sherrill’s move also won praise from the New Jersey chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, which called on state leaders to “prioritize” support for detainees from the larger fund “to ensure every person facing immigration proceedings could have access to legal representation.”
But the move was criticized by top New Jersey Republicans, including Congressman Jeff Van Drew, who said New Jersey families “are being crushed by some of the highest electric bills, property taxes, and cost of living in the entire country and Governor Sherrill’s answer is to spend more than $20 million defending illegal immigrants.”
“New Jersey citizens should come first. If they can find $20 million for immigration lawyers, they can find money to lower utility delivery charges or provide relief to the people who actually live, work, and pay taxes here,” he said in a statement. “Every dollar spent helping illegal immigrants avoid deportation is a dollar not being spent helping New Jersey families afford to stay in New Jersey.”
