Trenton — A New Jersey lawmaker wants to give cash to police departments that assist federal authorities in apprehending and deporting unauthorized immigrants.
Assemblyman Paul Kanitra, R-Ocean, is the primary sponsor of the Immigration Enforcement Support Act (A5232).
The bill would provide a $7,000 incentive to local police departments for each caught migrant turned over to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and successfully deported.
It also covers any unauthorized immigrant in New Jersey.
“Anyone who has entered the country illegally has violated the law. This would apply to anyone who has violated US immigration laws and is thus present illegally,” Kanitra explained.
Where does the money go?
The money would go to local police departments that use their resources to assist with deportations.
“This would offset salaries, this would offset man-hour costs, this would offset any other kind of allocation that would go into this,” Kanitra explained to reporters.
The Republican assemblyman stated that he has spoken with New Jersey police officers who want to help speed up deportations by providing more manpower. ICE has approximately 20,000 agents worldwide.
Where does the money come from?
According to Kanitra, the Immigration Enforcement Support Act will pay for itself and save New Jersey money in the long term.
“This money would just come out of all the allocation of financial resources and programs that illegal immigrants are currently getting,” Kanitra told reporters.
It is unknown how many unauthorized immigrants live in New Jersey.
According to a 2024 study by the left-leaning think tank Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, there are 428,000 unauthorized immigrants in the state. The study found that they pay $1.3 billion in taxes each year.
However, Kanitra’s office issued a report last May that contained very different findings.
According to the report, there are an estimated “892,000 illegal aliens” in New Jersey. It claimed that migrants cost the state at least $7.3 billion per year.
If every one of the state’s nearly 900,000 unauthorized migrants was deported with the assistance of a New Jersey police department, those agencies would receive more than $6.2 billion in state funds.
New Jersey home price increases in 2024 by county
The New Jersey real estate market keeps chugging along.
The following is a county-by-county breakdown of median home prices and how much they increased in 2024. According to data from New Jersey Realtors, many counties experienced double-digit increases in home values between November 2023 and November 2024.
