Immigration status will no longer block hundreds of thousands of people in New Jersey from becoming licensed doctors, nurses, electricians, counselors, cosmetologists, and other professionals.
Gov.
Phil Murphy on Tuesday signed a bill into law that allows immigrants to obtain a professional or occupational license in the Garden State even if they’re undocumented, as long as they meet all other requirements.
Previously, you were required to have a “lawful presence in the United States” to qualify for a license. This law (
S2455) removes that barrier.
Murphy’s office said the law — which takes effect immediately — will benefit about 500,000 undocumented residents in New Jersey.
The office also said the state will be the first on the East Coast to enact such a law. California, Nevada, and New Mexico are among the other states with similar statutes.
Sponsors and advocates said this is especially crucial as New Jersey continues to cope with the
coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout. This, they said, will allow for more workers at hospitals and bring more people into the state’s workforce in general.
“This bill is a good idea no matter what,” Murphy, a self-avowed progressive Democrat, said before signing the bill during
a Facebook Live event. “But God knows, the strain and stress on our medical and health profession made its timing and its urgency more so.”
“New Jersey is stronger when everyone is given the opportunity to contribute and everyone is given a chance to live their American Dream,” the governor added. “This law sends a simple, powerful message that immigration status can no longer be used as an excuse to discriminate among equally educated, trained, and qualified individuals.”
Estrella Rivas, a 20-year-old Elizabeth resident who is a student at Rutgers-New Brunswick, said she has long hoped to become a doctor to help her family. But she was born in El Salvador and isn’t a U.S. citizen, and that meant she had trouble volunteering at some hospitals.
“I was denied because I didn’t have a Social Security number,” Rivas said during the FacebookLive with Murphy. “The reality is this: My immigration status has meant that doors have closed for me.”
“Today we make big steps on becoming a more fair and equitable state,” she noted about the new law"
Technically, federal law prohibits employers from hiring people living in the U.S. illegally. But federal law does allow states to pass their own laws to grant undocumented immigrants eligibility for certain state and local benefits, including professional and commercial licenses.
Both houses of the Democratic-controlled New Jersey Legislature passed the Democratic-sponsored bill (
S2455), largely along party lines, this summer. The state Senate passed it by a vote of 26-11, the state Assembly 47-26.
“By eliminating barriers to occupational licenses, we will enable qualified, trained, highly skilled, and hardworking Dreamers to fill critical worker shortages in our state while contributing to the economy and being treated with dignity,” said Assemblyman Raj Mukherji, D-Hudson, a main sponsor of the measure.
But some Republicans opposed the measure.
“We have rules and laws in this country and, if you come into the country illegally and you are in violation of the law, I don’t think we should be granting you licenses,” state Assemblyman Harold Wirths, R-Sussex,
said when the Assembly passed the bill in July.
