JERSEY OFFICIAL JOINS TRUMP IN OPENLY FLOUTING THE RULES

Will Trenton finally act to protect immigrants once and for all?

How should New Jersey’s Democrats, from Governor Murphy on down, respond when an elected county official declares flatly that he doesn’t care what the rules are? We’re about to find out.

First, the facts: the guy who runs Ocean County, a longtime GOP stronghold, is Jack Kelly, the county commission director. Gleefully ignoring the Immigrant Trust Directive, a 2018 order from the New Jersey attorney general, Kelly said this week that he’d happily allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel to comb through Ocean County’s jail in search of undocumented migrants. “I want to cooperate with ICE,” Kelly said, according to the Asbury Park Press. “It’s always been my directive and it still is.” Asked about the Immigrant Trust Directive, which orders state and local law enforcement authorities not to join ICE in search of migrants, Kelly pooh-poohed it. “Who knows? But we’re doing it anyway.”

Kelly may be the first, as far as The New Jersey Democrat knows, but he may be only a harbinger of future law-defying rebellions by New Jersey GOP officials, and maybe even a few Democrats as well. That’s why it ought to be a priority for the governor and the state legislature to codify the directive – and there’s a bill in Trenton that would do just that, the Immigrant Trust Act. Inexplicably, the Dems – who control state government – aren’t moving it.

But what better way to give a traditional Jersey middle finger to Trump’s lawlessness?

Indeed, with President Trump careening toward a constitutional crisis, ready to ignore and defy court orders halting his administration’s dismantling of norms and agencies, it’s no surprise that an elected official in New Jersey like Kelly would openly denounce the state’s rules. Time to nip this in the bud.

Trenton Democrats are acting like the White House and ICE haven’t created a full-blown emergency. “Democratic leaders in the state Senate and Assembly declined comment on whether the proposed legislation will be put up for vote,” reported NJ.com. And Murphy seems blasé about the whole thing, saying about the proposed Immigrant Trust Act only that “there’s a lot of stuff in there that’s very attractive.” But he’s stopped short of demanding that the legislature take action.

The New Jersey Democrat reached out to the state attorney general’s office for a comment on the news from Ocean County. “The Immigrant Trust Directive helps protect public safety, which is law enforcement’s core mission and remains my top priority,” said Attorney General Matt Platkin, in a statement. “The directive has, for over six years, allowed state and local officials to work with federal authorities to remove violent criminals from this country, while otherwise ensuring that individuals who are victims or witnesses to a crime can safely come forward to New Jersey law enforcement officials, regardless of their immigration status. It allows New Jersey law enforcement to properly focus on preventing violent crime. It is also settled law. The Trump Administration and local officials, including in Ocean County, challenged it years ago, and their claims were thoroughly rejected, by judges across the ideological spectrum.”

Platkin, who’s helped lead the state’s resistance to the Trump administration so far in 2025, is correct in reminding us that Ocean County, along with Cape May County’s rogue-like sheriff, fought the directive in court years ago – and lost, including in federal appellate court.

The Democrat also reached out to Ocean County’s undersheriff, Jon Lombardi, who said that, at least at present, the county isn’t working with ICE. “Nothing has changed as far as what we are doing. Not currently working with ICE. Haven’t been asked to cooperate by ICE. Haven’t received requests from ICE. It’s status quo. Not received requests from ICE to collaborate.” When pressed as to whether the county would do so, Lombardi said that he’d review the Immigrant Trust Directive.