CREST HAVEN – Cape May County Sheriff Robert Nolan has fought to overturn the New Jersey attorney general’s Law Enforcement Directive 2018-6 v2.0, known as the Immigration Trust Directive, since it was issued by then Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal almost four years ago.
In each of the legal challenges Nolan has brought against the directive, the courts have sided with the attorney general.
That was again the case this month, when Nolan’s case before the New Jersey Appellate Court resulted in the court affirming “the action of the attorney general’s issuance of the directive.”
Nolan appealed lower court decisions regarding the directive on the grounds that the directive’s issuance was “without complying with the New Jersey Administrative Procedures Act,” making it unenforceable. The court found that the directive falls under a statutory exemption and is therefore valid.
The directive set limits on the aid that state and local law enforcement personnel could provide to federal immigration enforcement agents. It did so on the grounds that it was important to maintain the trust of the immigrant community if the state and local law enforcement agencies were to be successful in their specific missions.
An attempt by Nolan to overturn the directive by claiming the superseding authority of federal law lost in the courts. This latest attempt to challenge the directive based on its failure to follow specific procedures before its issuance has now also been negated by the Appellate Court ruling Jan. 26.
