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A1994 • 2026

Establishes immigration unit within Office of Public Defender.

Establishes immigration unit within Office of Public Defender.

Passed Legislature

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

Sponsor
Quijano, Annette
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.

Establishes immigration unit within Office of Public Defender.

Establishes immigration unit within Office of Public Defender.

What This Bill Does

  • Establishes immigration unit within Office of Public Defender.
  • 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

Establishes immigration unit within Office of Public Defender.
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 
A1994

ASSEMBLY, No. 1994

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO

District 20 (Union)

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes immigration unit within Office of Public
Defender.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

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

��

An Act
concerning
representation by the Office of the
Public Defender and supplementing Title 2A of the New Jersey Statutes.

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

���� 1.��� There is established,
within the Office of the Public Defender, a unit which shall, in the manner
prescribed by P.L.1967, c.43 (C.2A:158A-1 et seq), provide for the legal
representation of any noncitizen involved in the criminal justice system; any
noncitizen committed to a State, county, or private psychiatric institution;
and any noncitizen youth involved in the juvenile delinquency system along with
legal assistance on immigration related matters.

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill establishes an
immigration unit within the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) in order to
provide legal representation and assistance to indigent noncitizens on
immigration-related matters.� The immigration unit would assist criminal
justice-involved noncitizens, including noncitizen youth, in navigating
immigration issues during and resulting from the court proceedings.�

���� Pursuant to
Padilla v.
Kentucky
, 559 U.S.356 (2010), defense attorneys are required to advise
their clients of the immigration consequences of any criminal conviction.�
Public defender agencies across the country employ specialized immigration
lawyers to collaborate with attorneys in other areas of law to provide such
guidance.� According to the OPD, the New Jersey OPD currently employs only two
such attorneys to advise on immigration-related matters, with one immigration
attorney for every 600 noncitizen criminal defendants.� Further, an immigration
unit dedicated to immigration related counsel would also focus on the
noncitizen juvenile population.� According to the OPD, noncitizen youth
involved in the delinquency and the child welfare systems face a particular set
of challenges and can benefit from the immigration unit�s holistic approach
where immigration outcomes go hand-in-hand with the court proceedings.