(Jersey City, NJ) — On Saturday, more than three New Jersey voters, immigrant families, members of Make the Road New Jersey and the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, and partner organizations gathered for a powerful rally at the J. Owen Grundy Pier in Jersey City on the steps of the Katyń Memorial, commemorating the massacre of Polish refugees in Siberia. More than 300 community members gathered to demand immediate passage of the Immigrant Trust Act, a vital legislation that would codify the Immigrant Trust Directive, safeguard New Jersey families’ privacy, and keep ICE out of schools, daycares, healthcare facilities, shelters, and libraries and calling on the state to divest from Palantir Technologies, a software company owned by billionaire Peter Theil. Palantir was slated to deliver a prototype of ImmigrationOS, tech infrastructure for turbocharging ICE kidnappings and deportations. 

The massive rally comes on the heels of a historic election that saw the highest turnout since the early 2000s across the state, propelled by Black and Latino voters. Through the New Jersey Million Voters Project, the largest non-partisan voter engagement program in state history, canvassers across the state made more than 1,102,210 voter outreach attempts in Black, Brown, and AAPI communities across New Jersey, rooted in real conversations that built trust long before anyone talked about turnout. In counties where New Jersey Million Voter Project's work was concentrated, Passaic, Bergen, Union, Mercer, Essex, and Middlesex, turnout surged to 124–136 percent of 2021 levels. These numbers reflect voters demanding concrete solutions to an increasingly violent federal regime. New Jersey voters reject policies that militarize our communities, separate our families, and cut vital programs for thousands of residents.

“On Election Day, voters sent a clear message that we need elected leaders that will fight the attacks coming down from Washington D.C.,” said Antoinette Miles, Executive Director of the New Jersey Working Families Party. “It is time that the State Legislature meets New Jerseyans’ demands by passing the Immigrant Trust Act. Every day that passes without statewide immigrant protections, communities across New Jersey face increasing threats of detention and deportation. New Jersey must protect its own, and not fulfill the agenda of the Trump Administration.”

“Asian American voters across this state turned out decisively last week. We showed up for our families, our future, and our neighbors, and we changed what’s possible in New Jersey,” said Hera Mir, Policy Associate with AAPI New Jersey. “At a time when AAPI communities are experiencing three times higher ICE arrest rates this year than before, our legislative leaders need to show up for us and pass the Immigrant Trust Act to protect families.”

“New Jerseyans have made clear that they want their leaders to stand up to the Trump administration, and that includes passing legislation that will protect immigrants’ rights, like the Immigrant Trust Act,” said Ami Kachalia, Campaign Strategist at ACLU-NJ. “All residents deserve to feel safe and secure in the place they call home, and our state has a responsibility to protect immigrant communities. Passing the Immigrant Trust Act will help build a safer and more welcoming New Jersey for everyone.” 

“Our communities cannot live at the mercy of hate or political tides. As Palestinians, we know too well what it means to live under systems of surveillance, violence, and collective punishment — and we’re seeing echoes of that right here in the United States,” said Haliema Twam, Civic Engagement and Advocacy Manager with the Palestinian American Community Center, “Immigrant families should never fear that their personal information will jeopardize their safety in times of crisis. Educators and nurses should not fear being criminalized for having access to information they are not seeking. The Immigrant Trust Act is not a radical demand — it’s a call for basic privacy, dignity, and constitutional rights. We need policies like the ITA to begin dialing back the trauma our communities are continuously battling.”

Since January 2025, ICE has disappeared more than 3,000 New Jersey residents, with the state now home to the largest detention facility in the Northeast and ICE actively seeking to further expand the state’s detention capacity by weaponizing Fort Dix-Maguire. Mass raids have taken place in every corner of the state, while local leaders, such as Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Congresswoman LaMonica McIver, have faced unjustified federal retaliation for standing up to ICE abuses.

As the State Legislature reconvenes for the lame duck session, voters, local electeds including Rep. LaMonica Mclver, Jersey City Councilman James Solomon, New Jersey Senator Raj Mukherji, Mayor of Newark Ras Baraka, Mayor of Hoboken Ravi Bhalla and New Jersey Assemblywoman Katie Brennan, are calling on lawmakers to act with urgency and pass the Immigrant Trust Act immediately, and to divest from Palantir Technologies, the data firm co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel. Palantir was awarded a $30 million contract to build ImmigrationOS, an AI-driven system that aggregates data on residents to accelerate deportations. Advocates warn this poses grave threats to privacy and civil liberties, reinforcing the urgent need for state-level protections to prevent ICE from accessing local and state databases.

Community leaders point to persistent federal overreach, intrusive surveillance, and attacks on our communities as key factors behind this week’s historic voter mobilization.