Statement to Mayor & Municipal Council of Princeton
400 Witherspoon St., Princeton, New Jersey
August 10, 2026

Almost exactly a year ago today, the Mayor and Council unanimously passed resolution R-25-275, a resolution supporting passage of what was then called the Immigrant Trust Act. Among other things, the resolution called on other municipalities to join with Princeton in urging the state legislature to pass the Act. In the end, 30 municipalities and seven counties passed resolutions, and an amended version of the ITA passed the legislature in January 2026.

I think it’s fair to say that Resolution 275 was intended as a first step in an ongoing effort to “expand the protections of the Immigrant Trust Directive,” so that “no one need fear” that ordinary life activities would be an occasion for dread. In that spirit, I’d like to propose ICE-Free legislation for Princeton of the sort that’s been adopted in various forms across the state. 

ICE-Free legislation is legislation passed by a local body prohibiting the federal government’s use of locally-owned public property for federal immigration enforcement (subject to specified exceptions, e.g., the possession of a judicial warrant). Prior directives had instructed the police department to refuse cooperation with DHS/ICE, but ICE-Free legislation proscribes the use of municipal property for federal immigration purposes regardless of the presence or absence, or participation or not, of local police. This is consistent with, but more explicit than, either the Immigrant Trust Directive or Princeton Police General Order 3-12.

The legal basis for ICE-Free Zones turns on the interpretation of the Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution adopted in Printz vs United States (1997). The basic principle involved was recently upheld in United States vs Newark (2026), which vindicated migrant defense policies in four New Jersey cities (Newark, Hoboken, Jersey City, and Paterson). 

Rabbi Elliott Tepperman of Synagogue Bnai Keshet speaks to the crowd at Delaney Hall, Newark (June 29, 2026)

A version of the ICE Free idea is codified in Governor Sherrill’s Executive Order 12 (regarding state property), and in recent resolutions by the County Councils of Hudson, Middlesex, Camden, Essex, Mercer, and Passaic (re county property). At the municipal level, resolutions have been adopted by Hoboken, Jersey City, Kearny, New Brunswick, North Bergen, Newark, Bloomfield, Collingswood, Plainfield, and Maplewood. Indeed, this past June, Bloomfield Twp exercised the power codified by its Resolution (26:3-1) to order ICE off of a municipal parking lot there. So the issue is not merely symbolic. I should add that private businesses are also getting into the act, displaying signs that refuse entry by ICE without a judicial warrant, something I saw on a recent trip to Metuchen.

At the candidates’ forum last May, I asked the candidates for Council whether they would support ICE Free legislation, and both Mr Cohen and Ms Rubina said they would. That said, I hope the Mayor and the present Council can move expeditiously to passage of a resolution.