NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! EXCLUSIVE: Sanctuary policies are creating dangerous situations by making it harder for ICE to do its job, Republican critics argued after an illegal immigrant fled from agents and crashed on a major New Jersey highway, injuring the wife of a Democratic mayor. Wednesday’s crash is fueling a renewed fight over New Jersey’s limits on cooperation between local police and federal immigration authorities. Republicans argue that Sherrill’s passage of the “Trust Directive” creates risks to public safety by limiting ICE’s ability to work with police officers. They also maintain that Democrats are wrong to respond to such incidents by calling for the abolition of ICE rather than stricter enforcement. “This is just the latest in a long line of traffic incidents and vehicular incidents that would not occur if New Jersey did not have our sanctuary status that was codified as soon as Governor Sherrill took office,” Assemblyman Paul Kanitra, R-Point Pleasant Beach, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview Friday. REVEALS OVAL OFFICE PLAN TO ‘HOLD FUNDS’ FROM SANCTUARY CITIES AFTER AGGRESSIVE RAID IN NEW YORK “Abolish ICE” has been a popular slogan among progressive activists. (Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images) “We are all fighting against this. We told you this would create chaos, and Democrats can’t seem to take responsibility for their own actions.” Kanitra said Sherrill and other Democrats have failed to recognize the connection between their support for the “Trust Directive” sanctuary policy, signed into law by the governor this year, and incidents like the one in Middlesex County this week. FOR $12 MILLION MORE AS DEMIST GOVERNOR PROTECTS ILLEGAL ALIENS FIGHTING DEPORTATION Rye Barcott and Governor Mikie Sherrill attend a conversation about Barcott’s new book “Courage Will Save Us” with Governor Wes Moore and Mark Drilling on 92NY on June 9, 2026, in New York City. (Dominik Bindl/Getty Images) “The Democrats are apparently unable to take responsibility for their own actions here. They are unable to recognize the chaos they are creating and they scream and shout at everyone else trying to find someone to blame. It’s ridiculous,” Kanitra said. “You kind of reap what you sow,” he said, adding that at least two people in his district have died in incidents involving illegal immigrants behind the wheel. GIRL LEFT PERMANENTLY DISABLED IN ACCIDENT WITH ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS RIPS DEMS: ‘I REJECT YOUR SYMPATHY’Kanitra also pointed to a separate case in her county in which an illegal immigrant allegedly drove a vehicle into a family outside a kosher supermarket, killing a baby. “They got behind the wheel and ended up killing an innocent child in the process,” he said, calling the circumstances of the situation “absolutely abhorrent.” ICE OFFICERS IN FLORIDA HIT AND KILLED BY TRACTOR-TRAILER, POLICE SAY In Wednesday’s crash, an illegal immigrant fled an ICE target operation, the agency told Fox News Digital, and sped off. The suspect drove on US 130, the busy spine of the Trenton-Camden corridor, and collided with a Tesla in North Brunswick after running a traffic light. OFFICER OPENING FIRE One of the injured people in the other vehicle was the wife of East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen. Fox News Digital reached out to Cohen and North Brunswick Mayor Francis Womack III for comment. “After repeated verbal warnings and due to officer safety concerns, ICE officers relied on their training and attempted to safely remove the illegal alien. [from their car]. The illegal alien then proceeded to flee at a high rate of speed and collided with other vehicles,” an ICE spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital. ICE through 287(g) interagency cooperative agreements. Wednesday’s incident demonstrated why they are critical to keeping the public safe, he said. “I think it has only emboldened illegal aliens to engage in illegal behavior. This illegal alien was legally detained by federal authorities, ran a red light, fled from federal authorities, and unfortunately ran into the wife of the mayor of East Brunswick. responded differently. “Today, it appears a car chase involving ICE resulted in a crash involving the East Brunswick mayor’s wife. Abolish ICE,” tweeted Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J.. SIGN UP FOR THE POLITICAL NEWSLETTER Testa said that while the “silence is deafening” from Democrats in general, Watson Coleman’s call to abolish ICE shows some Democrats are responding to the incident. targeting federal immigration authorities instead of the driver. “This is just another example of lawlessness. And, unfortunately, there has been a seal of approval from radical leftists like Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman saying that ICE should be abolished instead of punishing the criminal who puts the lives of multiple citizens at risk,” he said. Fox News Digital has reached out to Watson Coleman and Sherrill for comment. of the State who still believe in law and order. “And we literally believe that citizens should have their privileges. I have made this comment many times,” he said. Testa accused Watson Coleman and Sherrill of supporting policies that make it difficult for federal authorities to arrest and deport illegal immigrants. “You know, I’m a kid of the ’80s, and the old American Express commercial said ‘membership has its privileges’; well, citizenship should have its privileges,” he said. Born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, he worked in the New York and Washington offices of Fox News since 2013.
