NJ Mayor Calls For Reversing Sanctuary Laws After Baby Dies In Crash

A baby boy died last week after his mother was struck by a car driven by someone without legal status inside a grocery store parking lot in Jackson Township, New Jersey. The mayor of that township told Fox News Digital that state sanctuary policies must be reversed to stop such disasters from happening again. "If our police pull somebody over and they're undocumented... they can't call the federal agencies, they can't call ICE," Jennifer Kuhn said during an interview on Thursday. "Condolences at this point are not enough. At this point, leadership needs to step in. And we have to do something."

Maria Cobon-Guzman, a 20-year-old from Guatemala who lacked a driver's license, slammed into the family while they were in the lot of a kosher store on Aug. 28. The victim was nine months old and died immediately. His mother and his five-year-old sister suffered critical injuries after the impact.

Kuhn insists the crash proves that New Jersey rules limiting cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities must be scrapped. "These issues shouldn't happen whether you're illegal or legal," she stated. "But the problem is that we can't hold them accountable if they're not documented and they're illegal aliens."

Cobon-Guzman faces manslaughter charges. Prosecutors also charged Ariadna Lazaro-Flores, an immigrant from Mexico, with endangering the welfare of an incompetent person for letting Cobon-Guzman drive her vehicle while knowing she had no license. An inmate report confirmed these details.

Both women crossed into the United States illegally during the Biden administration. Lazaro-Flores attempted to enter five times in October 2023 and was removed each time, according to past statements from the Department of Homeland Security. Cobon-Guzman entered once that same month but was released into the country without a vetting process. On July 31, an immigration judge ordered her removal.

The focus of Mayor Kuhn's anger is New Jersey's Immigrant Trust Directive, put in place by former Governor Phil Murphy in 2018. This rule generally bars police from asking about immigration status, stops notification to ICE when people leave custody, and restricts sharing personal data for civil immigration cases. Current Governor Mikie Sherrill signed a bill in March that made these protections into state law. She also issued an executive order in February banning ICE agents from using nonpublic areas of state property unless they hold a judicial warrant.

Kuhn wants the Jackson Township Council to pass a resolution demanding the state end these policies immediately. "I know that there's other towns around in Ocean County and in other counties that are also doing the same." The tragedy has raised urgent questions about how current regulations shield potential dangers from community oversight and what risks remain for families living under such laws.

Something needs to change, Kuhn said. That sentiment drives the push for policies designed to build trust between immigrant communities and local law enforcement. The goal is simple: encourage victims and witnesses to report crimes without fear that a routine police interaction will suddenly turn into an inquiry about their immigration status.

Dan Prochilo, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Attorney General's Office, stood by the Immigrant Trust Directive and other sanctuary-style reforms signed by Sherrill. He argued these measures work as intended. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Prochilo clarified exactly when federal authorities get involved. County jails and state prisons can notify ICE if someone is being released while charged with or convicted of specific violent or serious crimes.

The list of offenses includes assault, stalking, criminal sexual contact, arson, and burglary under the Immigrant Trust Directive. Rules also allow notification if a suspect has been convicted of a felony within the past five years or holds a final deportation order from a federal immigration judge. Prochilo noted that such notices have been provided regularly in appropriate cases by New Jersey law enforcement agencies since the directive took effect in 2019.

Fox News Digital also reached out to Sherrill's office for comment on these details. The debate continues over how far local jurisdictions should go when balancing public safety with immigration enforcement, but the lines of communication remain open between state and federal systems where serious crimes are involved.