New Jersey

It’s a race for NJ governor, but Republicans want to focus on immigration

Candidates are vowing to rescind public benefits for undocumented immigrants and carry out Trump’s immigration agenda.

The GOP candidates are not only promising conservative immigration policy, but questioning their opponents’ commitment to clamping down on immigration. | Edgar H. Clemente/AP

By Daniel Han

02/09/2025 12:00 PM EST

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The path for a Republican to occupy the New Jersey governor’s mansion may run along the nation’s southern border.

New Jersey is around 2,000 miles from Mexico, but immigration is a focus in the state’s Republican primary for governor — and the issue is shaping up as a key fight over which candidate can win over the Donald Trump-loving base.

The two top GOP candidates are aligning themselves with the Trump administration’s strict immigration agenda — with one welcoming limits to birthright citizenship and another considering using the National Guard to prevent migrants from arriving in the state.

New Jersey has one of the largest immigrant populations in the nation. And a Republican governorship could be a drastic departure from incumbent Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy’s “sanctuary state” approach, with candidates vowing to rescind public benefits for undocumented immigrants and promising to work with federal officials to carry out Trump’s immigration agenda.

Nearly all of the state’s six Democratic candidates for governor have expressed support for continuing sanctuary state policies but to varying degrees. One Democratic candidate, former Senate President Steve Sweeney, has vowed to repeal New Jersey’s policies that limit state and local police’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

The focus on immigration politics does not come as a surprise given the Republican primary’s main focus of showing support for President Donald Trump, who came within 6 points of winning New Jersey in 2024 and has made curtailing immigration a cornerstone of his new administration. Trump himself could upend the race if he chooses to endorse a candidate.

Paramount for gubernatorial conservatives is ending the Murphy administration’s Immigrant Trust Directive, which is colloquially known as New Jersey’s “sanctuary state” policy. The directive limits state and local cops’ cooperation with federal immigration officials with some exceptions like if immigrants are convicted or charged with a “violent or serious offense.”

“I’m sure some on the left in the coming months will try to argue that this is a federal issue,” said Matt Rooney, executive director of the New Jersey chapter of the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank. “Well, Phil Murphy made it a New Jersey issue. Every single governor and mayor around the country that declared their jurisdiction a sanctuary state made it a state and local issue.”

During this year’s first — and so far only — GOP gubernatorial debate, three candidates pledged to end the “sanctuary state” policy as a “day one” priority: former Assemblymember Jack Ciattarelli, the 2021 GOP nominee for governor who is running for a third time; former radio host Bill Spadea; and former state Sen. Ed Durr. Another GOP candidate, state Sen. Jon Bramnick, said on the debate stage that his first day priority was to end sanctuary cities.

While the race is still ramping up, Ciattarelli is viewed as the front-runner in limited public polling. And despite New Jersey’s Democratic leanings, Republicans have won the governor’s mansion here largely over perennial frustration with the state’s high cost of living — and Republicans are now betting that a focus on state-level immigration policies will help, too.

“Candidates should be talking about the issues that are most important to the people,” Ciattarelli said in an interview with POLITICO. “President Trump talked about this issue all throughout the campaign, and he won the popular vote, he won the seven swing states, he won the Electoral College.”

During this year’s first GOP gubernatorial debate, three candidates pledged to end the “sanctuary state” policy as a “day one” priority, including former Assemblymember Jack Ciattarelli. | Mary Altaffer/AP

The GOP candidates are not only promising conservative immigration policy, but questioning their opponents’ commitment to clamping down on immigration.

During Tuesday’s debate, Ciattarelli tried to undermine Spadea’s........

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