Lourdes Rosero had a valid work permit and an active asylum case when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained her during a raid on a Woodbridge, New Jersey warehouse. She was held for eight days at the Elizabeth Detention Center, then shackled and flown overnight to a detention facility in Jena, Louisiana, far from her home and her daughter. She spent weeks fighting for her freedom before a judge set bail and she was finally allowed to return to New Jersey.

Rosero's case is not unique. New Jersey now ranks eighth in the nation for ICE arrests, and people swept up in these raids almost never get a lawyer. Unlike criminal defendants, immigrants facing detention have no right to a government-appointed attorney. "It is on them to find the representation," said Amy Torres, executive director of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, describing how little time detainees have before they're transferred or put on a path to deportation.

That means people with valid work permits, pending asylum claims, and no criminal record can be shipped across the country and forced to navigate a life-altering legal process completely alone, often within days.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Attorney General Jen Davenport have the power to change this. They can fund legal representation for detained immigrants, require transparency when detainees are transferred out of state, and demand oversight of conditions at facilities like the Elizabeth Detention Center and Delaney Hall.

No one should have to fight for their freedom without a lawyer simply because they can't afford one. Sign the petition to demand New Jersey guarantee legal counsel for every immigrant ICE detains.