“Trust cannot be selective,” said Ali Aljarrah, a senior adviser to CAIR Action New Jersey. He said signing one bill while allowing the others to lapse left immigrant communities without what the group considers core safeguards.
Omayma Mansour, another senior adviser to the organization, said the decision sent a message that immigrant privacy protections were negotiable. She pointed to past cases involving data sharing and surveillance as evidence that partial reforms leave families vulnerable.
CAIR Action New Jersey cited the case of Leqaa Kordia, a Paterson resident, as an example of how information sharing between government agencies can have serious consequences for immigrant families. Advocates have pointed to her experience as a driving force behind legislative efforts to limit data collection and sharing related to immigration status.