Summary — S 2736
Purpose
- S 2736 would remove the terms “alien” and “illegal alien” from New Jersey statutory law and replace them with less pejorative terms (the draft text uses forms such as “noncitizen” or “foreign national” and “undocumented foreign national” depending on the provision). It also prohibits State Executive Branch agencies from using those removed terms in agency rules, regulations, guidance, publications, displays, and signs issued after the bill’s effective date (with a limited quoting exception).
Key provisions
- Terminology changes across statutes: the bill amends multiple statutory provisions (for example, N.J.S.3B:5-12; N.J.S.3B:28-1; section 13 of P.L.1970, c.13 (C.5:9‑13), and other parts of the statutory code) to replace “alien” with terms such as “noncitizen” or “foreign national,” and “illegal alien” with “undocumented noncitizen” or “undocumented foreign national” where the statute refers to a person’s immigration status.
- Executive-branch language prohibition: State Executive Branch agencies would be prohibited from using “alien” or “illegal alien” in any proposed or final rule, regulation, interpretation, publication, document, display, or sign issued by the agency after the bill’s effective date.
- Exception: Agencies may use those words only when they are quoting or reproducing text authored by a third-party source (i.e., text not written by an officer or employee of the agency).
- Conforming and technical edits: The bill amends and supplements statutory language throughout the code (noted in the introduced version as amendments to, and supplementation of, Title 52 and multiple statutory sections).
Who and what would be affected
- Primary effect: State statutes, agency rules, forms, signage, guidance documents, and other official materials that currently contain “alien” or “illegal alien.”
- Secondary effects: State employees, legal drafters, licensing and records offices, court clerks and others who use statutory terminology; entities that must comply with or rely on state forms and certifications.
- Not a change to federal immigration law: The bill changes only state statutory language and agency usage; it does not alter federal immigration law or federal enforcement authorities.
Procedural status and timeline (as reported in provided materials)
- Committee action: Reported favorably out of the New Jersey Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee (committee report dated October 24, 2024).
- Legislative posture: Listed as at “2nd Reading” in the Senate as of the committee report.
- Other dates in the provided record are inconsistent (multiple introduction and referral dates are shown). Because the provided materials contain mixed/contradictory entries, consult the official state legislative website for the current, authoritative status and effective date if enacted.
Potential impacts and considerations
- Administrative updates: Agencies will need to revise regulations, forms, signage, databases, trainings, and web content to conform to new terminology; this will incur administrative time and potential costs.
- Legal implications: Mostly editorial, but terminology changes can affect statutory construction disputes in litigation, so drafters typically include careful cross‑references to avoid unintended legal consequences.
- Public perception and policy intent: The bill seeks to remove language considered dehumanizing or stigmatizing and to standardize more neutral terminology in state law and agency communications.
Notes and inconsistencies
- The provided materials include variant wording (e.g., “foreign national” / “undocumented foreign national” vs. “noncitizen” / “undocumented noncitizen”) and a mix of dates and unrelated documents. For final text and exact word choices, confirm the engrossed bill text and the legislature’s official bill tracking page.
