As the push for immigration protections continues to be debated in New Jersey, Americans support sending troops to the border but are less inclined to back cutting federal funds to cities that do not help with immigration enforcement and suspending asylum applications, according to a new analysis by Pew Research Center.
Federal aid covers a wide swath of resources that affect New Jersey, including health care and school food programs.
In late January, New Jersey joined several other states to sue the Trump administration after it froze federal grants. Federal courts have since issued restraining orders on the action.
Trump’s new Attorney General Pam Bondi has vowed to target sanctuary cities via lawsuit and withholding Department of Justice grants. But in the previous Trump administration, courts upheld their status, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case challenging them.
According to the Pew poll, 58 percent supported sending additional troops to the border.
But just 47 percent approved of plans to cut federal funds to cities and 52 percent disapproved. The poll did not ask specific questions about which federal aid would be on the chopping block.
The study reinforced other polls finding the majority of Americans support deportations but when presented with options for doing so — such as using the military in cities and deporting children — the support plummets. A majority of the public also supports pathways to citizenship, according to those polls.
Consistent with the current political climate, opinions also fell along partisan lines.
A total of 74 percent of Republicans and Republican- leaning independents said the Trump administration was doing the “right amount” in deporting undocumented immigrants, while 73 percent of Democrats thought the opposite.
Federal funding made up 36.4% of all state budgets in fiscal year 2022, a record high, according to Rebecca Thiess, manager of the research think-tank Pew Charitable Trusts, the parent company of the Pew Research Center.
“Federal grant funding helps states pay for public services, such as health care, education, transportation, and infrastructure,” Theiss said. “States are currently facing tighter budgets than in recent years due to the expiration of federal pandemic aid and stagnating tax collections, among other challenges,”
New Jersey received more than $22 billion in federal funds for the 2024 fiscal year, a 56 percent increase from pre-pandemic levels. Medicaid made up the largest share, according to statistics released by the governor’s office this month.
Jelani Gibson may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X at @jelanigibson1 and on LinkedIn.
Sue Livio contributed to this story
