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A179 • 2026

Prohibits release of illegal immigrants from correctional facilities.

Prohibits release of illegal immigrants from correctional facilities.

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Fantasia, Dawn
Last action
2026-01-13
Official status
Introduced, Referred to Assembly Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations Committee
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Prohibits release of illegal immigrants from correctional facilities.

Prohibits release of illegal immigrants from correctional facilities.

What This Bill Does

  • Prohibits release of illegal immigrants from correctional facilities.
  • Topic: Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations Fiscal note: This bill has been certified by OLS for a fiscal note.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-01-13 New Jersey Legislature

    Introduced, Referred to Assembly Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations Committee

Official Summary Text

Prohibits release of illegal immigrants from correctional facilities.
Topic:
Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations
Fiscal note:
This bill has been certified by OLS for a fiscal note.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
A179

ASSEMBLY, No. 179

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman DAWN FANTASIA

District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)

Assemblyman MICHAEL INGANAMORT

District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblymen McGuckin, Myhre and Kanitra

SYNOPSIS

���� Prohibits release of illegal immigrants from
correctional facilities.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act

concerning certain inmates in correctional facilities and supplementing Title
30 of the Revised Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� a.� The administrator,
superintendent, warden or other person responsible for the operation of a
prison, jail, youth detention or other correctional facility shall identify by
documentary evidence the nationality of every inmate incarcerated in the facility.

���� b.��� If an inmate is not a
United States citizen as determined pursuant to subsection a. of this section,
the administrator, superintendent, warden or other person responsible for the
operation of the prison, jail, youth detention or other correctional facility
shall identify by documentary evidence whether the inmate is lawfully present
in the United States.

���� c.���� An administrator,
superintendent, warden or other person responsible for the operation of the
prison, jail, youth detention or other correctional facility who cannot
determine by documentary evidence, after due diligence, whether the inmate is a
United States citizen as required by subsection a. of this section or cannot
determine whether the inmate is lawfully present in the United States as
required by subsection b. of this act, shall deem the inmate to be unlawfully
present in the United States.

���� d.��� An inmate shall not be
released from incarceration if the inmate is not a United States citizen or is
not lawfully present in the United States except to the custody of officials of
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.

���� e.���� An administrator,
superintendent, warden or other person responsible for the operation of a
prison, jail, youth detention, or other correctional facility who releases an
inmate from incarceration in violation of this section shall be subject to a
civil penalty as set forth by the Commissioner of Corrections.

���� 2.��� The Commissioner of
Corrections shall promulgate rules and regulations in accordance with the
"Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.)
necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act, and which shall include a schedule
of civil penalties to be imposed for a violation of the act as provided in
subsection e. of section 1 of P.L.��� , c.��� (C.������� ).

���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect on the first day of the fourth month after enactment and shall not apply
to any release from incarceration prior to the effective date of the act.

STATEMENT

���� This bill is intended to
ensure that persons who are unlawfully present in the United States and have
been incarcerated in prisons, jails, youth detention, or other correctional
facilities in this State are not released back into the general population upon
their release, but rather are remanded solely to the custody of federal
immigration officials.

���� The bill requires the
administrator, superintendent, warden or other person responsible for the
operation of a prison, jail, youth detention or other correctional facility to
determine the nationality of every inmate incarcerated in the facility.� If an inmate
is not a United States citizen, the facility�s administrator is required to
determine whether the inmate is lawfully present in the United States.� When this cannot be determined, the inmate is to be deemed not lawfully
present in the United States.

���� The bill prohibits the release
of an inmate if the inmate is not a United States citizen or is not lawfully
present in the United States except to the custody of United States Citizenship
and Immigration Services officials.

���� Administrators,
superintendents, wardens or other operators of correctional facilities who
violate the bill�s provisions are liable to a civil fine as specified by the
Commissioner of Corrections.