NJ mayor demands sanctuary policy rollback after baby killed in crash allegedly involving illegal immigrant
The mayor of the New Jersey township where a baby boy was killed last week after an illegal immigrant allegedly struck the child's family with her car in a grocery store parking lot told Fox News Digital that the state's sanctuary policies should be rolled back to help prevent similar tragedies.
"If our police pull somebody over and they're undocumented... they can't call the federal agencies, they can't call ICE. That needs to change," Jennifer Kuhn, the mayor of Jackson Township, said in an interview on Thursday. "Condolences at this point are not enough. At this point, leadership needs to step in. And we have to do something."
Authorities say Maria Cobon-Guzman, a Guatemalan national who did not have a driver's license, hit a mother pushing a stroller carrying her 9-month-old son and 5-year-old daughter in the parking lot of a kosher grocery store in Jackson on Aug. 28. The infant died, while the mother and 5-year-old were critically injured.
Kuhn argued the crash underscores the need to scrap New Jersey policies that, in most cases, limit cooperation between local, county and state law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.
"These issues shouldn't happen whether you're illegal or legal. But the problem is that we can't hold them accountable if they're not documented and they're illegal aliens," she added.
Cobon-Guzman, 20, was charged with manslaughter. Prosecutors also charged Ariadna Lazaro-Flores, alleging she allowed Cobon-Guzman to drive her vehicle despite knowing she did not have a driver's license.
Lazaro-Flores, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, was charged with endangering the welfare of an incompetent person, according to an inmate report.
Both women illegally entered the U.S. during the Biden administration, with Lazaro-Flores doing so five times in October 2023 and being removed each time, the Department of Homeland Security previously told Fox News Digital.
Cobon-Guzman entered once in October 2023 but was released unvetted into the nation’s interior, DHS added. On July 31, an immigration judge issued an order of removal against her.
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At the center of Kuhn's criticism is New Jersey's Immigrant Trust Directive, a policy implemented under former Gov. Phil Murphy in 2018.
Among other provisions, the directive generally prohibits police from asking about a person's immigration status, notifying U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when someone is being released from custody, or sharing certain non-public personal information for civil immigration enforcement purposes.
Current New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed legislation codifying the directive into state law in March. She also signed an executive order in February that prohibits ICE agents from using nonpublic areas of state property to stage or conduct operations unless they have a judicial warrant.
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Kuhn is calling for the Jackson Township Council to pass a resolution demanding an end to such policies at the state level.
"I know that there's other towns around in Ocean County and in other counties that are also doing the same. Something needs to change," Kuhn said.
Supporters of the policies say they help build trust between immigrant communities and local law enforcement by encouraging victims and witnesses to report crimes without fear that routine interactions with police will lead to scrutiny over their immigration status.
Dan Prochilo, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Attorney General's Office, defended the Immigrant Trust Directive and other sanctuary-style reforms signed by Sherrill.
County jails and state prisons can notify ICE when someone is being released if they are charged with or have been convicted of certain violent or serious crimes, Prochilo said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Some of those crimes include assault, stalking, criminal sexual contact, arson and burglary, according to the Immigrant Trust Directive.
New Jersey jails can also notify ICE if a suspect has been convicted of a felony within the past five years or is under a final deportation order from a federal immigration judge, Prochilo said.
"Such notice has been provided regularly in appropriate cases by New Jersey law enforcement agencies since the Immigrant Trust Directive took effect in 2019," Prochilo added.
Fox News Digital also reached out to Sherrill's office for comment.