New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, announced that the state would allocate $2.1 million in aid to help illegal aliens who are facing deportation fight the process.
Murphy, in his first year as governor and a former U.S. ambassador to Germany under former President Barack Obama, made the announcement on Nov. 19.
The funding will include an allocation of $925,000 to Legal Services of New Jersey to represent illegal aliens facing deportation in court and another $925,000 to American Friends Service Committee for its direct representation services.
Law school clinics at Rutgers University and Seton Hall University will each receive $125,000.
Murphy’s office claimed that illegal aliens contributed hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes and that they would pay even more if they received legal status. It also claimed that the allocation would save New Jersey taxpayers money in the end, stating: “A program of representation reduces the high taxpayer costs associated with prolonged detention, and by streamlining the legal process, a representation program lessens the need for foster care and other programs that serve the U.S. citizen children whose parents are detained or deported.”
“Legal representation would also lead to fewer families losing their sources of income and prevent more employers from shouldering the costs of turnover and hiring new employees after losing their workforce to deportation,” his office added.
Republican state Sen. Kristin Corrado said that the way the funding was restricted would lock out other low-income people in New Jersey.
“When Legal Services already turns away many people who are desperate for help due to resource limitations, we shouldn’t limit how new funding can be used,” she said in a statement.
“We shouldn’t say that deportation cases are more important than supporting victims of domestic abuse or workers who were hurt on the job. If we’re going to entrust LSNJ with state funds, we should trust their judgment to properly allocate the scarce resources we provide across the variety of our residents’ needs.”