Ciattarelli vows to end New Jersey’s sanctuary policies on day one if elected governor

In a televised town hall with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday, New Jersey Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli announced which far-left policy will be his day-one priority to eliminate if he is elected governor.

With just five days until Election Day, Ciattarelli trails his Democratic opponent, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, by seven points in deep blue New Jersey. Nonetheless, while speaking with Hannity in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, Ciattarelli maintained that his campaign holds the momentum to upset Sherrill and flip the state red.

If he should win the race, Ciattarelli told Hannity that his very first priority would be eliminating New Jersey’s sanctuary policies, keeping local and state authorities from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement operations.

“Executive order number one, on day one, no town in this state will be a sanctuary city, we will not be a sanctuary state,” said Ciattarelli, as the crowd, filled with local New Jerseyans, broke into applause.

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“Here’s the good news,” he went on. “Many of the things that [current Democratic Gov. Phil] Murphy has done were by executive order. They weren’t codified by the legislature, which means I can reverse them on day one.”

“Having sanctuary cities and us being a sanctuary state encourages illegal immigration, and it handcuffs our local police in certain ways; we’re not doing that. I’m going to reverse that on day one,” he said, adding, “If a local police chief and mayor want to work together to preserve safety in our community by partnering with a federal agency, I’m not going to get in the way.”

Ciattarelli also announced he would prioritize eliminating cashless bail, saying the policy “has created a professional criminal who’s learned how to game the system.”

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“Talk to your local cops and they’ll tell you about this dynamic known as ‘arrest, release, repeat,’ it’s demoralizing for cops,” he explained.

Despite having unsuccessfully run for New Jersey governor two times already, Ciattarelli told Hannity the early voting results have him in a “really good position to win.”

During the town hall, he also knocked Sherrill for refusing to release her military records relating to the disciplinary action she faced for involvement in a cheating scandal at the U.S. Naval Academy. Sherrill has maintained that she did not cheat but was kept from walking with her graduating class for refusing to give up information on those who cheated.

“All she has to do is approve the release of her disciplinary records, and we’ll know why she was disciplined. And if what she is saying is true, her disciplinary records will confirm that, but she won’t release them,” he said, adding, “There’s a pattern here.”

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He also dinged Sherrill over her endorsement from New York socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani.

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“We’ve called on her to reject that endorsement, but she hasn’t,” he said as Hannity noted, “Just like she’ll be the most transparent but never give out her naval records.”

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser and Dana Blanton contributed to this report.