Can NJ’s Governor Legally Harbor an Illegal Alien Above His Garage?

The governor of New Jersey appeared to admit during recent public remarks that he has an illegal immigrant living above his garage and then proceeded to challenge the federal government to “try to get her.”  

“I don’t want to get into too much detail,” Gov. Phil Murphy, D-N.J., said Saturday, adding, “but there’s someone in our broader universe whose immigration status is not yet at the point that they are trying to get it to. And we said, ‘You know what, let’s have her live at our house above our garage,’ and good luck to the feds coming in to try to get her.” 

The governor made the comments on stage during an event hosted by Blue Wave New Jersey, a self-described “progressive” grassroots political group.

Murphy knows the Trump administration is “not targeting someone” like the woman allegedly living above his garage, Marguerite Telford, director of communications for the Center for Immigration Studies, told The Daily Signal. “He’s just saying it to get his name on the front page and get all the liberals to be all excited about him,” she added.  

Murphy’s office did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment.

President Donald Trump and border czar Tom Homan have said repeatedly that they are prioritizing the arrests and deportations of illegal aliens who have committed crimes in addition to crossing the border illegally. If illegal aliens are present with a criminal illegal alien who officials have targeted for arrest, then those aliens will also be arrested, according to Homan.  

While Telford argued that Murphy is only aiming to garner the attention of the Left with his comments, she points out that “harboring or shielding illegal aliens from detection” is a violation of Title 8 of the U.S. Code.

Title 8, U.S.C. 1324 declares that an individual who “knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law, conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection, such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation …” is in violation of the law.  

The law “makes it a federal crime for anyone—and that would apply to the governor, just like any other private individual—to ‘conceal, harbor, or shield’ an illegal alien,” Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal.  

Murphy “could be indicted by a federal grand jury and charged if he is harboring an illegal alien at his home,” von Spakovsky said, adding, “And yes, [the Department of Homeland Security] could go in and detain that illegal alien who is hiding in his home.” 

Simon Hankinson, a senior research fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, echoed von Spakovsky’s remarks, telling The Daily Signal that the law “is pretty clear.”

“Any person who knowingly ‘conceals, harbors, or shields’ an illegal alien is liable for a fine or prison sentence if convicted,” Hankinson said. “There isn’t an exception for state politicians or because you really like the harbored alien. If he [Murphy] really has their best interest at heart, it seems silly of him to rat this person out by telling the world about it in a YouTube interview. He’s gone beyond virtue-signaling to waving the red flag to a bull.”  

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