New Jersey set aside $2.1M to help immigrants

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey set aside $2.1 million in its fiscal year 2019 budget to help immigrants facing deportation in the state.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy and the Democrat-controlled Legislature signed off on the new spending this month as part of a recently adopted $37.4 billion budget.

It comes as the federal government fell short of a deadline to reunite families separated under a federal zero tolerance immigration policy.

Murphy included the money as part of his larger goal of pushing back against Republican President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration. The new spending survived contentious budget negotiations among Democratic leaders.

Murphy campaigned on the promise of setting up an Office of Immigrant Protection, but the budget does not include that.