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Ravi Bhalla backs bill to cement immigrant protections in law
The Bill codifies the attorney general’s Immigrant Trust Directive, which limits when state and local police may cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
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Jeffin T. Kaleekal - Wed, 25, Mar 2026
- 01:16 EDT
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Assemblyman Ravi S Bhalla / Wikimedia commons
New Jersey Assemblyman Ravinder S. Bhalla lauded the State Assembly’s passage of Bill A4071, which seeks to codify the Immigrant Trust Directive, on March 23, describing the law as “what is owed to immigrant communities” while addressing the House before the vote.
The New Jersey Legislature approved three Democrat-backed bills that would codify the attorney general’s Immigrant Trust Directive, which limits when state and local police may cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
The bills would also prevent local, state, and federal law enforcement officers from concealing their identities while performing official duties and restrict health care agencies and other government entities from collecting or sharing certain personal data.
ALSO READ: Assemblymember Ravi Bhalla leads ICE defanging in N.J.
Bhalla, who voted in favor of the bills, said his support for codifying the Immigrant Trust Directive was a campaign promise he has now fulfilled.
During his floor speech, Bhalla accused the federal government of “spending $75 billion ... to weaponize immigration enforcement, ... officers pulling people off the streets, murdering American citizens, pulling people out of churches, away from school drop-off lines.”
He noted that New Jersey has the fifth-largest immigrant population in the country and the second-largest percentage of immigrants, and therefore needs such laws to be codified.
Bhalla also said the new laws are “a floor, a guarantee, a baseline that cannot be erased by executive action.”
In a post on X, Bhalla said there is still work to be done. “This version of the Immigrant Trust Act does not protect certain categories of immigrants who still have lesser due process rights,” he said.
He added, “Because of this shortcoming, I made clear during my floor remarks that this bill does not prevent local mayors from enacting the protections still missing at the state level.”
While campaigning for the Assembly, I made a promise to the people of the 32nd District that I would work to codify the Immigrant Trust Directive and protect our immigrant neighbors.
— Ravinder S. Bhalla (@RaviBhalla) March 24, 2026
Yesterday, I proudly cast my vote for A4071 and made good on that promise.
But there's more… pic.twitter.com/TmHxwuHFmS
The Immigrant Trust Directive was previously cleared and sent to former Gov. Phil Murphy for his signature. However, the Democrat vetoed the bill on his last day in office, raising concerns that, if codified, the law would invite judicial scrutiny. The original directive, though lacking legislative backing, had held up to scrutiny, including at the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.
In his floor address, Bhalla countered Murphy’s concerns and emphasized the need for legislative backing to the attorney general’s directive.
“They are our neighbors, these are our constituents, they are people who will build our homes, care for our elderly, teach our children, and pay into this state’s economy every single day,” Bhalla said. “We owe them more than a directive that can be taken away, we owe them a law.”
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