Governor’s policy under fire after illegal immigrant fleeing ICE slams into mayor’s wife | 7 Sep 2026 | Sanctuary policies are leading to dangerous situations by making it harder for ICE to do its job, Republican critics argued after an illegal immigrant fled agents and crashed on a major New Jersey highway, injuring the wife of a Democratic mayor. The Wednesday crash is fueling a renewed fight over New Jersey’s limits on cooperation between local police and federal immigration authorities. Republicans are arguing Sherrill’s approval of the “Trust Directive” creates public-safety risks by limiting the ability of ICE to work with police officers. They also contend that Democrats are wrongheaded to respond to such incidents by calling for ICE’s abolition rather than stronger enforcement. “This is just the latest in a long line of traffic incidents and vehicular incidents that wouldn’t occur if New Jersey didn’t have our sanctuary status that got codified as soon as Gov. Sherrill came into office,” Assemblyman Paul Kanitra, R-Point Pleasant Beach, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview Friday.