TRENTON – Bi-state legislation sponsored by Senators Loretta Weinberg and Bob Gordon to prohibit the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey – which administers both New York and New Jersey’s airports – from utilizing any of its resources in support of the enforcement of an Executive Order by President Donald Trump that effectively bans travelers to the United States from six majority Muslim countries, was approved today by the Assembly.
The bill was introduced in New Jersey and New York following the President’s Jan. 27 Executive Order to halt the admittance of refugees and suspend immigration from seven countries to the United States, including green card holders, and to ban indefinitely refugees from Syria. The bill now applies to the revised executive order issued on March 6.
“The rewritten travel ban remains a discriminatory policy that singles out travelers from six majority Muslim countries and was motivated by the President’s desire to ban people from this country based on their religion. The courts have rightly halted the ban, but we know the case is not yet over. We cannot allow Port Authority resources to be used at any time to enforce President Trump’s ill-advised, unconstitutional and discriminatory policy. Our bill would prohibit the agency from supporting the federal effort,” said Senator Weinberg (D-Bergen).
“President Trump’s revised executive order is nothing more than a dressed up version of the first travel ban targeting Muslims,” said Senator Gordon (D-Bergen/Passaic). “We cannot in good conscience permit the Port Authority to in any way participate in a policy that discriminates against refugees or anyone else based upon their religion or their nation of origin. The president’s executive order does not reflect who we are as a country, nor as a state.”
S-3006 states that no employee or officer of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey shall provide any aid, resources, assistance, or support to any federal employee or representative in enforcing the provisions of the Executive Order, nor may any resources or facilities of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey be used for such purpose.
The bill was approved by the Senate in March by a vote of 22-13. The Assembly approved it 48-25-2. It must come back to the Senate for a final vote to concur with technical changes before going to the governor’s desk.