To the Honorable Governor Mikie Sherrill,

Your first week in office is drawing to a close. From your first executive orders to your first emergency declaration, you were “born to run”.  I am a lifelong New Jerseyan, proudly so, born and raised along Route 9 in Ocean County, so forgive me for invoking The Boss. During your campaign, you were able to speak with New Jerseyans who voiced a multitude of concerns regarding our great state - from the cost of living to utility costs to the mayhem and division that has been sown in Washington.

One concern, which I’m sure you’ve heard, is the fear of New Jerseyans about what the future will hold. With rapidly escalating violence and indiscriminate profiling at the hands of DHS, many New Jerseyans are afraid to leave their homes, but that is simply not an option when it comes to keeping the rent or mortgage payment on time.

The last time, in recent memory, that the population at large was afraid to leave their homes was during the Coronavirus Pandemic, an occurrence from which many of us still have not recovered from - financially or emotionally. As I began typing this petition, I learned of the execution of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, just over two weeks after the murder of Renee Nicole Good. Minnesota is a test-run for a larger-scale assault on democracy and the American Dream, and is sure to further compound upon an already skyrocketing and nearly unachievable cost of living. Your executive orders are the first crucial step towards relief, but we cannot afford to wait until time runs out for more of our communities - we must act immediately. Even now, there is reporting indicating ICE raids in Toms River, Piscataway, Perth Amboy, Brick, Belmar, and Red Bank. We saw what happened in Newark and Edison. What community will lose their right to feel safe next?

2025 reporting by nj.com states that NJ has the second highest immigrant population in America, citing the 2020 Census saying "As of 2024, there were 2,376,424 foreign-born residents in New Jersey, representing about 25% of the population." Additionally, according to the American Immigration Council, roughly 30% of our state's workforce is composed of members of our immigrant community. These statistics are simply too important to ignore. Governor Murphy failed to sign the Immigrant Trust Act into law, recklessly endangering nearly a quarter of the state. Our nation, and our state, is possible because of our immigrant community, and we must do better. They are our neighbors, our friends, our coworkers, and vital to our state's function. 

I urge you to enact a statewide Eviction Moratorium through Executive Order, to end in January 2027, pending the results of the 2026 midterm elections, the furtherance of raids conducted by ICE and CBP, and the reduction of NJ's unemployment rate, which currently sits at 5.4%, 1% above the national average and the highest point it's reached since 2022, and would be applicable to those who are immigrants or immigrant-born, or those who are currently unemployed and struggling to find work.

We don’t know what the future holds, but we can act now to ensure that the residents of this great state can remain housed. No one should be homeless because of the fear that is being stoked. No one should be homeless because the breadwinners of the household are disappeared, with their families left behind to scramble to pick up the pieces. No one should risk being homeless because they have not been given the opportunity to get back on their feet after a global catastrophe, or because their livelihood is at stake due to the aggression that is dominating the headlines. As someone who has been homeless, or at risk of homelessness, several times, I can attest to the fact that all it takes is one bad day to completely destroy everything that has taken a lifetime to build. I can attest to the fact that it's significantly easier to fall behind than catch up, and that disparity in and of itself is damning. 

Governor Sherrill, please act now, and protect those who you serve. I look forward to your response.