OPINION
As Jewish clergy serving communities across New Jersey, we write in strong support of a new three-bill immigrant protection package introduced into the New Jersey General Assembly on January 2, 2026. These bills are the Safe Communities Act (A6308); the Privacy Protection Act (A6309); and the Strengthening Trust Between Law Enforcement and Immigrant Communities Act (A6310). If enacted, this bill package will be vital legislation that upholds human dignity, strengthens public safety, and safeguards the trust between immigrant families and the public institutions that serve them.
New Jersey is experiencing immoral federal civil immigration enforcement.
In 2025 alone, ICE conducted warrantless raids in Newark and Woodbridge, detaining undocumented residents and U.S. citizens, including a military veteran and mothers of school-aged children. That same year, GEO Group reopened Delaney Hall in Newark under an ICE contract. A lawful congressional oversight visit to the facility led to charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver and the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. In December, Jean Wilson Brutus, a 41-year-old man held at Delaney Hall, died after a reported medical emergency in custody.
Federal authorities also approved plans to detain up to 3,000 immigrants at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and, according to The Washington Post, to expand detention to as many as 80,000 people nationwide, including a proposed site in Roxbury, New Jersey.
As a result, many immigrant families now live in fear that ordinary interactions with schools, hospitals, shelters, police, or libraries could lead to detention or deportation. This fear is not abstract. It separates families, discourages parents from seeking medical care for their children, keeps students out of school, and silences survivors of violence.
This fear erodes the common good.
The newly-introduced immigrant protection bill package consists of three bills that collectively draw a clear and necessary distinction between the responsibilities of New Jersey’s public agencies – whose mission is to protect, heal, educate, and serve – and the work of federal civil immigration enforcement.
- The Safe Communities Act, A6308, calls on the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General to develop model policies around sensitive locations, with the intention of ensuring that all New Jerseyans can safely access essential services such as schools, houses of worship, healthcare facilities, food pantries, libraries, and social services.
- The Privacy Protection Act, A6309, would establish data privacy protections at New Jersey agencies and health care facilities, ensuring that data regarding immigrants’ status is only collected when necessary to administer a program and creating standards around confidentiality and disclosure. It would also reaffirm safeguards around the sharing of Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) and Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) data.
- The Strengthening Trust Between Law Enforcement and Immigrant Communities Act, A6310, would preserve the Office of the Attorney General’s Immigrant Trust Directive as well as add changes to better ensure that all New Jerseyans are afforded their full due process rights under the United States Constitution.
This bill package, if enacted, will promote the safety, stability, and the flourishing of all New Jersey families.
As Jews, our commitment to this work is rooted deeply in our sacred tradition. The Torah commands us at least 36 times to protect and love the ger—the immigrant, the sojourner, the person who is vulnerable in our midst. “The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love them as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 19:33–34). Our people’s story begins with displacement. Our memory is shaped by persecution, migration, and the yearning for safety.
Our values compel us to build a society in which all people—regardless of immigration status—can seek medical care without fear, send their children to school without hesitation, call for help in an emergency without risk, and participate fully in the life of our communities. While only the members of the United States Congress can comprehensively address our nation’s broken immigration system, in the face of federal civil immigration overreach, the above-described immigrant protection bill package can provide meaningful harm reduction for the 1 in 4 New Jerseyans who are foreign born.
We therefore call on the New Jersey Legislature to swiftly pass this bill package, and we urge people of all faiths and moral traditions to join us in supporting this crucial legislation. At a time when fear is too often used as a political tool, our state must choose a different path—one grounded in justice, compassion, and the belief that every person deserves to feel safe accessing the services that sustain the health and well-being of their families.
Let us affirm together that New Jersey is a place where trust is strengthened, families are protected, and human dignity remains our guiding value.
Rabbi Joel Abraham, Interim Rabbi, Temple Beth Miriam, Long Branch
Rabbi Richard Address, Director, Jewish Sacred Aging, Cherry Hill
Rabbi Jacob Adler, Rabbi, Congregation Kehilat Shalom, Belle Mead
Rabbi Victor Appell, Senior Associate Rabbi, Temple Emanu-El, Westfield
Rabbi Vicki Axe, Rabbi, Temple Emanu-El, Edison
Rabbi Philip Bazeley, Rabbi, Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple, New Brunswick
Rabbi Adena Blum, Senior Rabbi, Congregation Beth Chaim, Princeton Junction
Rabbi Neal Borovitz, Rabbi Emeritus, Kol Dorot: A Reform Jewish Community, Oradell
Cantor Justin Callis, Cantor, Congregation Kol Ami, Cherry Hill
Cantor Galit Dadoun-Cohen, Temple B’nai Or, Morristown
Rabbi Noah Diamondstein, Senior Rabbi, Temple Beth-El, Hillsborough
Rabbi Renee Edelman, Rabbi, Monmouth Reform Temple, Tinton Falls
Rabbi Hannah Ellenson, Director of Congregational Learning and Innovation, Temple B’nai Jeshurun, Short Hills
Rabbi Shammai Engelmayer, Founding Rabbi, K’’k Torat Chayim VaChesed, Tenafly
Rabbi Helaine Ettinger, Rabbi, Philipstown Reform Synagogue, Maplewood
Rabbi Noah Fabricant, Rabbi, Kol Dorot: A Reform Jewish Community, Oradell
Rabbi Jonathan Falco, Assistant Rabbi, Temple Shaari Emeth, Manalapan
Rabbi James Feder, Assistant Rabbi, Temple Ner Tamid, Bloomfield
Rabbi Michael Feshbach, Rabbi, Congregation Beth Israel, Northfield
Cantor Lucy Fishbein, Senior Cantor, Temple B’nai Jeshurun, Short Hills
Rabbi Joseph Forman, Rabbi, Or Chadash, Flemington
Rabbi Jennifer Frenkel, Rabbi, Congregation Kol Ami, Cherry Hill
Rabbi Gary Gans, Rabbi Emeritus, Congregation Beth Tikvah, Marlton
Rabbi Matthew Gewirtz, Senior Rabbi, Temple B’nai Jeshurun, Short Hills
Rabbi Shira Gluck, Associate Rabbi and Director of Congregational Learning, Temple Sinai, Summit
Rabbi Arnold Gluck, Rabbi Emeritus, Temple Beth-El, Hillsborough
Cantor Ilana Goldman, Senior Cantor, Temple Emanu-El, Westfield
Rabbi Ralph Goren, Cantor Kolbo, Beth El Synagogue, Margate
Rabbi Laurence Groffman, Rabbi, Temple Sholom of West Essex, Cedar Grove
Rabbi/Cantor Rhoda Harrison, Rabbi, Temple Beth Hillel Beth Abraham of Carmel, Vineland
Rabbi Rebecca Jaye, Adjunct Rabbi, Temple Emanu-El, Westfield
Rabbi Marc Katz, Senior Rabbi, Temple Ner Tamid, Bloomfield
Rabbi Anat Katzir, Rabbi Educator, Kol Dorot: A Reform Jewish Community, Oradell
Rabbi Rebecca Kaufman, Assistant Rabbi, Congregation Beth Chaim, Princeton Junction
Rabbi Charles Kroloff, Rabbi Emeritus, Temple Emanu-El, Westfield
Rabbi Joshua Lobel, Reform Community Educator, Rutgers University Hillel, New Brunswick
Rabbi Emily Losben-Ostrov, Rabbi, Temple Sholom, Scotch Plains
Rabbi Laurence Malinger, Rabbi, Temple Shalom, Aberdeen
Rabbi Randall Mark, Rabbi, Shomrei Torah: The Wayne Conservative Congregation, Wayne
Rabbi Amy Memis-Foler, Rabbi, Adath Emanu-El, Mount Laurel
Rabbi/Cantor Jacqueline Menaker, Rabbi Cantor, Shirat Hayam, Ventnor
Rabbi Abby Michaleski, Rabbi, Beth Israel, Vineland
Rabbi Ariel Milan-Polisar, Assistant Rabbi, Congregation Kol Ami, Cherry Hill
Rabbi Bennett Miller, Rabbi Emeritus, Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple, New Brunswick
Rabbi Ellie Miller, Rabbi, MAKOMnj, Morristown
Rabbi Jordan Millstein, Senior Rabbi, Temple Sinai of Bergen County, Tenafly
Rabbi Norman Patz, Rabbi Emeritus, Temple Sholom of West Essex, Cedar Grove
Rabbi Karen Glazer Perolman, Senior Associate Rabbi, Temple B’nai Jeshurun, Short Hills
Rabbi Ethan Prosnit, Senior Rabbi, Temple Emanu-El, Westfield
Rabbi/Cantor Colman Reaboi, Rabbi Cantor, Temple Sinai of Cinnaminson, Cinnaminson
Cantor Beth Reinstein, Assistant Cantor, Temple B’nai Jeshurun, Short Hills
Rabbi Michael Satz, Rabbi, Temple B’nai Or, Morristown
Rabbi Eliza Scheffler, Associate Rabbi, Barnert Temple, Franklin Lakes
Rabbi Barry Schwartz, Rabbi, Congregation Adas Emuno, Leonia
Rabbi Ilana Schwartzman, Rabbi, Beth Haverim Shir Shalom, Mahwah
Cantor Darcie Sharlein, Cantor, Temple Sholom, Scotch Plains
Cantor Sarah Silverberg, Cantor, Kol Dorot: A Reform Jewish Community, Oradell
Rabbi Steven Sirbu, Rabbi, Temple Emeth, Teaneck
Cantor Mark Stanton, Cantor, Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple, New Brunswick
Rabbi Rachel Steiner, Senior Rabbi, Barnert Temple, Franklin Lakes
Rabbi James Stoloff, Rabbi, Ridgewood
Rabbi David Vaisberg, Rabbi, Temple B’nai Abraham, Livingston
Cantor Risa Wallach, Cantor, Temple Beth-El, Hillsborough
Rabbi Nathan Weiner, Rabbi, Temple Har Zion, Mount Holly
Rabbi Ariann Weitzman, Rabbi Educator, B’nai Keshet Reconstructionist Synagogue, Montclair
Cantor Stephanie Wright, Cantor, Temple Sholom of West Essex, Cedar Grove
Rabbi Mary Zamore, Executive Director, The Women’s Rabbinic Network, Westfield
Cantor Sarah Zemel, Cantor, Temple Shalom, Aberdeen
