Read the full stored bill text
A213
ASSEMBLY, No. 213
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)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Azzariti Jr.
SYNOPSIS
���� Imposes criminal penalties for harboring aliens who
have outstanding warrants and are unlawfully present in U.S.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning hindering arrests or prosecutions,
and amending N.J.S.2C:29-3.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.� N.J.S.2C:29-3 is amended
to read as follows:
���� 2C:29-3.���� Hindering
Apprehension or Prosecution. a. A person commits an offense if, with purpose to
hinder the detention, apprehension, investigation, prosecution, conviction
,
or punishment of another for an offense
,
or violation of Title 39 of the
Revised Statutes
,
or a violation of chapter 33A of Title 17 of the
Revised Statutes
, or deportation as an alien unlawfully present in the
United States,
he:
���� (1)�� Harbors or conceals the
other;
���� (2)�� Provides or aids in
providing a weapon, money, transportation, disguise or other means of avoiding
discovery or apprehension or effecting escape;
���� (3)�� Suppresses, by way of
concealment or destruction, any evidence of the crime, or tampers with a
witness, informant, document or other source of information, regardless of its
admissibility in evidence, which might aid in the discovery or apprehension of
such person or in the lodging of a charge against him;
���� (4)�� Warns the other of
impending discovery or apprehension, except that this paragraph does not apply
to a warning given in connection with an effort to bring another into
compliance with law;
���� (5)�� Prevents or obstructs,
by means of force, intimidation or deception, anyone from performing an act
which might aid in the discovery or apprehension of such person or in the
lodging of a charge against him;
���� (6)�� Aids such person to
protect or expeditiously profit from an advantage derived from such crime; or
���� (7)�� Gives false information
to a law enforcement officer or a civil State investigator assigned to the
Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor established by section 32 of P.L.1998,
c.21 (C.17:33A-16).
����
An offense under subsection
a. of this section committed with knowledge that the person aided is an alien
unlawfully present in the United States and is the subject of an arrest
warrant, or an immigration warrant issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security, is a crime of the fourth degree.
� An offense under paragraph (5)
of subsection a. of this section is a crime of the second degree, unless the
actor is a spouse, domestic partner, partner in a civil union, parent or child
to the person aided who is the victim of the offense, in which case the offense
is a crime of the fourth degree.� An offense under paragraph (3) or (7) of
subsection a. of this section is a crime of the third degree if the conduct
which the actor knows has been charged or is liable to be charged against
another person would constitute leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident
that results in the death of another person in violation of section 1 of
P.L.1997, c.111 (C.2C:11-5.1).� Notwithstanding the presumption of non-imprisonment
for certain offenders set forth in subsection e. of N.J.S.2C:44-1, the actor
shall serve a term of imprisonment, which shall be fixed at not less than one
year, during which the actor shall not be eligible for parole.� Otherwise, the
offense under subsection a. of this section is a crime of the third degree if
the conduct which the actor knows has been charged or is liable to be charged
against the person aided would constitute a crime of the second degree or
greater, unless the actor is a spouse, domestic partner, partner in a civil
union, parent or child of the person aided, in which case the offense is a
crime of the fourth degree.� The offense is a crime of the fourth degree if
such conduct would constitute a crime of the third degree.� Otherwise it is a
disorderly persons offense.
���� b.��� A person commits an
offense if, with purpose to hinder his own detention, apprehension,
investigation, prosecution, conviction
,
or punishment for an offense
,
or violation of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes
,
or a violation of
chapter 33A of Title 17 of the Revised Statutes,
or deportation as an alien
unlawfully present in the United States,
he:
���� (1)�� Suppresses, by way of
concealment or destruction, any evidence of the crime or tampers with a
document or other source of information, regardless of its admissibility in
evidence, which might aid in his discovery or apprehension or in the lodging of
a charge against him; or
���� (2)�� Prevents or obstructs by
means of force or intimidation anyone from performing an act which might aid in
his discovery or apprehension or in the lodging of a charge against him; or
���� (3)�� Prevents or obstructs by
means of force, intimidation or deception any witness or informant from
providing testimony or information, regardless of its admissibility, which
might aid in his discovery or apprehension or in the lodging of a charge
against him; or
���� (4)�� Gives false information
to a law enforcement officer or a civil State investigator assigned to the
Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor established by section 32 of P.L.1998,
c.21 (C.17:33A-16).
���� An offense under paragraph (3)
of subsection b. of this section is a crime of the second degree.� An offense
under paragraph (1) or (4) of subsection b. of this section is a crime of the
third degree if the conduct which the actor knows has been charged or is liable
to be charged against him would constitute leaving the scene of a motor vehicle
accident that results in the death of another person in violation of section 1
of P.L.1997, c.111 (C.2C:11-5.1).� Notwithstanding the presumption of
non-imprisonment for certain offenders set forth in subsection e. of
N.J.S.2C:44-1, the actor shall serve a term of imprisonment which shall be
fixed at not less than one year, during which the actor shall not be eligible
for parole.
���� Otherwise, the offense under
subsection b. of this section is a crime of the third degree if the conduct
which the actor knows has been charged or is liable to be charged against him
would constitute a crime of the second degree or greater.� The offense is a
crime of the fourth degree if such conduct would constitute a crime of the
third degree.� Otherwise it is a disorderly persons offense.
����
It is an affirmative
defense to prosecution for an offense under subsection b. of this section that,
during the time of the alleged commission of the offense, the defendant was a
victim of human trafficking pursuant to N.J.S.2C:13-8.
(cf: P.L.2015, c.265)
���� 2.� This act shall take effect
immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill amends
N.J.S.A.2C:29-3, which prohibits hindering apprehension or prosecution, to
impose criminal penalties for harboring an alien who is unlawfully present in
the United States with knowledge that an arrest warrant or an immigration
warrant has been issued for such an alien, or hindering the apprehension or
deportation of such an alien.
���� Under the bill, harboring or
hindering the apprehension or deportation of an unlawful alien, with knowledge
that the alien has an outstanding warrant, is a crime of the fourth degree.� An
unlawful alien who hinders his or her own apprehension or deportation is guilty
of a disorderly persons offense.� However, it is an affirmative defense that an
unlawful alien was a victim of human trafficking during the time that the
unlawful alien was hindering his or her own apprehension or deportation.
���� A crime of the fourth degree
is punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 18 months, a fine of up to
$10,000, or both.� A disorderly persons offense is ordinarily punishable by a
term of imprisonment of up to six months, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.