On January 23, 2026, the Mayor of Jersey City, James Solomon, formally approved a new executive order during a press conference at Liberty State Park, held inside the Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal. The terminal, historically used as a gateway for millions of immigrants entering the United States, was chosen for its direct connection to Jersey City’s identity as America’s “Golden Door.”
- City operations and employees are now governed by mandatory immigration protocols, including standardized training, departmental compliance officers, police documentation rules, annual officer training, FOIA reporting to ICE, and strict limits on cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
- All city-owned and city-controlled property is legally barred from being used for immigration enforcement, including parking lots, vacant lots, and garages, with required signage, physical access controls, and a formal reporting chain for violations.
- Jersey City is building a formal immigrant legal support system, partnering with nonprofit organizations to deliver multilingual know-your-rights outreach, virtual legal clinics, legal referrals, and immigration defense support structures for detained residents and families.
Political Background and Timing
The order followed a campaign promise and a public commitment Solomon made earlier in the month during an anti–U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) rally on the steps of City Hall, which took place after Renee Good was fatally shot by ICE. The signing occurred only days after Solomon was sworn in last Thursday.
The event was attended by local, county, and state elected officials, labor unions, and immigrant rights activists. During the press conference, Solomon referred to Jersey City’s immigrant foundations, and more than 40% of the city’s residents were born outside the United States, identifying immigrants as residents, workers, and parents within the school system. He said federal actions were creating fear in communities, and local government must use all lawful means available to protect residents.
Administrative Training Structure and Departmental Responsibilities
The executive order establishes three defined actions, beginning with a citywide system of mandatory standardized training for municipal employees. This training will be organized by the Business Administrator, in coordination with the Corporation Counsel. The instruction will cover the requirements of Executive Order 2017-003, the scope of federal immigration authority, the legal differences between judicial warrants and administrative warrants, and procedures for responding to federal requests for access to city property or municipal resources. It also includes de-escalation standards, reporting obligations when authority is overstated or exceeded, and response procedures when a City resident, employee, or member of the public faces detention, arrest, or removal.
Each city department must assign an Immigration Enforcement Point of Contact. All requests from federal immigration authorities must pass through that designated official and be reviewed by the Law Department before any response is provided. Solomon stated that each department will appoint a responsible official to oversee compliance and implementation, and that departments are required to ensure all staff complete training using city-prepared instructional materials related to ICE interactions.
Police Guidelines, Officer Training, and Recordkeeping
The executive order requires the Jersey City Police Department to issue formal written policies governing interactions with federal immigration authorities. These policies must include procedures for verifying lawful judicial warrants, de-escalation when legal authority is misrepresented, interactions with unidentified or masked agents, documentation of encounters, preservation of body-worn camera footage, and referrals to City services and community-based resources.
The Department of Public Safety must establish annual officer training based on these standards, developed with input from organizations that serve or represent immigrant communities. All officers are required to complete this training within three months of appointment.
Every interaction between Jersey City officers and federal immigration authorities must be fully documented. Records must include the federal agency involved, officers present, other individuals present, a description of the interaction, any requests made, assistance provided, and the date, time, and location. These records fall under the Open Public Records Act (OPRA). All associated body-worn camera footage and incident reports must be preserved.
The order also directs the Law Department, working with the Office of the Mayor, to submit a federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to ICE at least once per year. These requests must seek records on the dates and locations of ICE activities in Jersey City, the number of individuals arrested or detained, the reasons for those actions, and federal policies governing the use of badges, identification, masks, and identity-obscuring practices.
Limits on the Use of City-Owned Property
A separate section of the order prohibits the use of city-owned and city-controlled property for immigration enforcement operations. This restriction applies to parking lots, vacant lots, and garages when used as staging areas, processing locations, or operational bases. A staging area is defined as any space used to assemble, mobilize, and deploy vehicles, equipment, materials, and personnel for immigration enforcement purposes.
City departments must identify properties that could be used in this way and install signage stating that the property is owned and controlled by the City of Jersey City and is not authorized for use by any federal, state, or local government entity for immigration enforcement operations. The order also requires the installation of physical access controls, including locked gates where appropriate.
If city property is attempted to be used or is used for immigration enforcement, the reporting chain must proceed from the employee to a supervisor, then to the Business Administrator, and then to the Corporation Counsel. Properties subject to an existing lease or concession agreement are excluded from this section.
Legal Outreach and Support Infrastructure
The third major component of the executive order creates partnerships for know-your-rights education and immigration legal assistance. Jersey City will collaborate with immigrant-serving nonprofit organizations to deliver multilingual outreach, including educational materials, community workshops, and digital resources.
The order also requires the development of legal support systems that include virtual legal clinics, advice and counsel clinics, pro-se assistance clinics, referral pathways to qualified immigration counsel, and community-based, distributed legal assistance models. Procedures will be established to assist residents whose family or community members have been detained by federal immigration authorities, including access to know-your-rights information, legal referrals, and coordination with nonprofit service providers.
The city will also examine immigration defense funding models used by other municipalities during earlier periods of heightened federal enforcement and identify options for possible future use.
Federal Law Compliance and Implementation Status
The executive order states that it does not interfere with federal law and does not obstruct lawful immigration enforcement carried out independently of city property, personnel, or resources. It preserves cooperation with criminal judicial warrants and does not restrict actions required by valid subpoenas, court orders, or judicial warrants. The order includes severability provisions and took immediate effect, with copies filed in the offices of the City Clerk and Business Administrator and made available to the public upon request.
Political, State, and Labor Support
Public support for the order was expressed by U.S. Reps. Rob Menendez (D-8) and LaMonica McIver (D-10). Menendez said that during a period when Trump is deploying ICE agents across the country, government partners at every level must act to protect residents and ensure communities are treated with dignity and respect. He credited Solomon for leadership and partnership in opposing what he described as Trump’s extreme deportation agenda.
McIver supported maintaining Jersey City’s sanctuary status, stating that the city was built by immigrants seeking dignity and safety. She referenced Trump’s efforts to target sanctuary cities and said the city would not surrender authority to ICE or abandon its residents. McIver has a pending assault case connected to an incident at Newark’s Delaney Hall, where ICE agents arrested Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, with charges later dropped.
32BJ SEIU’s Luz Garate stated that she and her family live in fear and said that most union workers are immigrants who keep the city and state operating each day.
