Bill
A 2486
Creates a permanent Office of New Americans in New Jersey's Department of Human Services to coordinate health, legal, and resettlement services for immigrants and refugees.
Note on materials provided
- The packet you gave mixes multiple, inconsistent pieces (a PDF binary dump and header lines referring to an “Emission Tampering Act”), but the legislative text included is for New Jersey Assembly Bill A2486 (Quijano, Park et al.) to establish an Office of New Americans in the Department of Human Services. This summary treats the provided bill text as the operative subject.
Summary — A2486 (Office of New Americans)
Purpose
- Establishes a permanent Office of New Americans within the New Jersey Department of Human Services (DHS) to coordinate services, outreach, training, data, and policy for immigrants, refugees, and their children (“New Americans”), and to institutionalize existing functions previously created by Executive Order 74 (2019).
Key provisions and changes
- Creates the Office of New Americans in DHS and creates the position of Director of the Office:
- Director appointed by and serving at the pleasure of the Commissioner of Human Services; must be qualified by training/experience and devote full time to duties.
- Hiring should, where permitted by law, consider candidates’ lived experience or work with New American communities.
- Core functions of the Office:
- Administer refugee services and duties under refugee resettlement law (references section 412(e)(7) of the federal Immigration & Nationality Act) in partnership with federal programs.
- Provide health and wellbeing support to refugees and New Americans (health screenings, facilitating access to state benefits when appropriate, collaboration with other state agencies).
- Administer legal services programs for low-income New Americans (including asylum seekers, those facing detention/deportation, unaccompanied minors) as defined by the Commissioner.
- Serve as a centralized source of expertise and data on New Americans; provide technical assistance and training to other Executive Branch agencies on equitable engagement and service access.
- Engage directly with immigrant and refugee communities and service providers to identify access barriers, promote rights awareness, and coordinate training and supports (including workforce-related training in consultation with Labor & Workforce Development).
- Authority to expand duties responsively during emerging needs or humanitarian crises; DHS to staff the Office to meet these objectives.
- Findings and supportive facts included in the preamble: NJ hosts over two million immigrants/refugees (nearly one-quarter of the State population); the Office previously administered resettlement support to over 3,000 refugees in the past ten years and legal supports for nearly 5,000 New Americans in five years.
Who is affected
- Primary beneficiaries: immigrants, refugees, asylees, noncitizen residents and their children (defined collectively as “New Americans”), particularly low-income individuals needing legal services, recently arrived refugees, and unaccompanied minors.
- State agencies: DHS and other Executive Branch departments receiving technical assistance and coordination from the Office.
- Local service providers, legal aid organizations, community-based groups, and employers engaging with immigrant communities.
Procedural / timeline notes
- Introduced (pre-filed) for the 2024 legislative session; Assembly introduction listed as January 9, 2024; referred to Assembly Aging and Human Services Committee.
- A printed/amended version is noted as Print No. 2486A (dated March 3, 2025 in the materials).
- Sponsors listed in the bill text include Assemblywomen Annette Quijano and Ellen J. Park and Assemblyman Gabriel Rodriguez, with multiple co-sponsors named in the provided text.
- Companion/related bills are referenced (S2496 and others in the materials).
Potential impact
- Institutionalizes and expands state-level coordination for immigrant and refugee services, which could improve access to health, legal, and resettlement services; strengthen interagency coordination and data collection; and support crisis response capacity. It may increase state administrative responsibilities and require ongoing staffing and funding through DHS to operationalize the Office and its programs.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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