New Jersey’s Immigration Enforcement Model Policies Are Weeks Away: What Employers And Schools Need To Know

The next phase of New Jersey’s immigration enforcement framework is almost here, bringing new compliance expectations that institutions should not wait to address.

On or around July 19, the New Jersey Attorney General will publish model policies governing how schools, healthcare facilities, places of worship, and offices of social services interact with federal immigration enforcement, as required by the Safe Communities Act (P.L. 2025, c.401). The point of the law is clear: residents should be able to go to school, seek medical care, attend worship, or access social services without fear that doing so will expose them to immigration enforcement. The law puts responsibility on institutions to help make that promise real. Public schools and social services offices must adopt them. Private schools will be asked to adopt policies consistent with them. Healthcare facilities must implement similar protections.

We do not yet know the exact wording of New Jersey’s model policies. But guidance from California, Massachusetts, New York, and Illinois provide a glimpse of what New Jersey’s public and private institutions likely can expect: institutions will need written protocols for information sharing, enforcement encounters, and post-encounter follow-up. The New Jersey Privacy Protection Act (P.L. 2026, c.4) makes this even more urgent because some data collection and disclosure restrictions are already law.

What the Model Policies Are Likely to Require

1. Information sharing. Institutions will need clear rules on what information they collect, why they collect it, and when it may be shared. The New Jersey Privacy Protection Act, signed into law in March 2026, already restricts government entities from collecting immigration status, citizenship, place of birth, SSN, or ITIN unless necessary for service delivery.

2. Encounters with immigration enforcement. Institutions will need written protocols for who receives an enforcement agent, who contacts counsel, who reviews documents, and which areas are public or nonpublic. 

3. Post-encounter procedures. Institutions will need procedures for documenting what happened, preserving copies of documents presented, notifying parents or guardians when appropriate, and reporting the encounter internally to leadership or the governing board.

What Is Already in Effect

The New Jersey Privacy Protection Act is already law. Government entities may not collect immigration status, citizenship, place of birth, SSN, or ITIN unless necessary for a public service, benefit, professional qualification or otherwise required by State law. If your enrollment, intake, residency, emergency contact, or records-release forms still collect this information without a lawful basis, you may already have a compliance issue.

What Employers and Schools Should Do Now

The institutions best positioned for July 19 are the ones acting now — not waiting for the Attorney General’s Office to tell them what they already know is coming. That means reviewing enrollment, intake, residency, and records-release forms for compliance with the New Jersey Privacy Protection Act; designating the person who will handle enforcement encounters before one happens; identifying public and nonpublic areas; and ensuring front-desk staff and security personnel understand what to do if immigration enforcement shows up.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.