TRENTON—The United States Department of Justice filed a 21-page federal lawsuit against the State of New Jersey and Governor Mikie Sherrill on Monday. The federal litigation aims to strike down Executive Order No. 12, which Sherrill signed on February 11 to restrict federal immigration agents from using state-owned property for civil immigration enforcement.

The lawsuit represents a direct jurisdictional clash between the federal executive branch and the state executive branch. Executive Order No. 12 establishes strict boundaries separating state property from federal immigration operations. Under the directive, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel operating under federal jurisdiction are prohibited from entering nonpublic areas of facilities under state jurisdiction without a judicial warrant.

The directive specifically prevents federal agents from using state property as a processing center, staging area or operations base. The order applies exclusively to the following state-controlled infrastructure datasets:

• Infrastructure owned by New Jersey Executive Branch departments.

• Infrastructure operated by New Jersey Executive Branch departments.

• Infrastructure leased by New Jersey Executive Branch departments.

• Infrastructure controlled by New Jersey Executive Branch departments.

• Office buildings owned by New Jersey Executive Branch departments.

• Parking lots owned by New Jersey Executive Branch departments.

• Parking garages owned by New Jersey Executive Branch departments.

  
  

  State Authority and Federal Supremacy

The federal complaint outlines three specific constitutional violations against the state directive:

• The state directive violates the Supremacy Clause through federal preemption.

• The state directive violates the Supremacy Clause through unlawful regulation of the federal government.

• The state directive violates the Supremacy Clause through unlawful discrimination against the federal government.

In the filing, federal attorneys misspelled the governor's name as "Sherill". The DOJ document states: "Governor Mikie Sherill aims to intentionally obstruct federal law enforcement and celebrates thwarting the constitutional obligation of the President of the United States to take care that federal immigration law be faithfully executed". Another section reads: "The State of New Jersey has adopted this policy with the clear objective of obstructing President Trump from enforcing federal immigration law".

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi released a statement regarding the federal lawsuit.

"Federal agents are risking their lives to keep New Jersey citizens safe, and yet New Jersey's leaders are enacting policies designed to obstruct and endanger law enforcement," Bondi stated. "States may not deliberately interfere with our efforts to remove illegal aliens and arrest criminals — New Jersey's sanctuary policies will not stand."

State officials have vowed to fight the federal lawsuit in court. Acting New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport issued a response defending the state policy:

"Instead of working with us to promote public safety and protect our state’s residents, the Trump administration is wasting its resources on a pointless legal challenge to Governor Sherrill’s executive order," Davenport said. Davenport stated that New Jersey will fight the lawsuit and “continue to ensure the safety of our state's immigrant communities".

Governor Sherrill Pushes Back

Sherrill responded to the litigation during a press conference on Tuesday:

"I think what the federal government needs to be focused on right now, instead of attacking states like New Jersey working to keep people safe, is actually training their ICE agents with some modicum of training, like any law enforcement officer in the state of New Jersey would have, so that they can operate more safely," Sherrill said.

Alongside Executive Order No. 12, the New Jersey administration launched an online public portal. The portal allows residents to upload videos to document encounters with federal immigration agents.

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Sources

1. The Setonian: "DOJ sues New Jersey over ICE restrictions"

2. U.S. Department of Justice: "Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against New Jersey for Interfering with Federal Immigration Laws"

3. Police1: "DOJ sues New Jersey over restrictions on immigration arrests"

4. CentralJersey.com: "Feds Sue Over NJ Order Limiting ICE Access to State Property"

5. CBS News: "What is ICE allowed to do in New Jersey? DOJ sues state, Gov. Sherrill over immigration executive order"

6. PhillyVoice: "Trump administration sues New Jersey for restricting ICE access to state property"

7. U.S. Department of Justice: "US v. State of New Jersey, 3:26-cv-1770 Complaint"