TRENTON, N.J. – During a Spanish-language town hall meeting, Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican candidate for New Jersey governor, promised two young Mexican immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children that they wouldn’t face deportation if they had no criminal records. Just days later, Ciattarelli participated in a rally reminiscent of a “Make America Great Again” event, where a far-right speaker humorously suggested constructing a detention facility in New Jersey akin to Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz.”

At the rally, Jack Posobiec, a well-known right-wing commentator, quipped, “How about the Boardwalk Brig?” eliciting laughter from the crowd.

Ciattarelli, a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, recently awarded Trump an “A” grade for his presidential performance. However, as he seeks to win over Latino voters in a competitive race against Democrat Mikie Sherrill, Ciattarelli has distanced himself from Trump’s hardline immigration stance, a cornerstone of Trump’s policy initiatives.

Advocating for the issuance of driver’s licenses and Social Security numbers to those residing in the U.S. illegally, Ciattarelli is attempting to navigate between Trump’s supporters who favor mass deportations and the Latino community, whom he hopes to attract to his campaign.

In recent public engagements, including a Univision forum and the campaign’s final debate, Ciattarelli has not endorsed a pathway to citizenship, a long-standing demand of immigration advocates. Instead, he has proposed what he terms a “pathway to recognition,” which he explains as an initial step towards achieving citizenship.

It’s a high-stakes gambit in one of two states with governor’s races this year — Virginia is the other — but it’s rooted in Trump’s improved performance among Latino voters last year. In New Jersey, for example, Trump flipped two Hispanic-majority towns where he had lost by more than 30 percentage and 50 percentage points, respectively, in 2016. While the state typically votes Democratic in Senate and presidential election years, and Trump has lost it in all three of his White House runs, it has swung back and forth between parties in odd-year contests for governor.

Ciattarelli’s more lenient stance toward some immigrants emerges amid Trump’s all-out effort to increase deportations, even among those with no criminal record beyond violating immigration laws. Ciattarelli has softened his position in some respects, but he also has made clear that he wants New Jersey law enforcement officers to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

Sherrill, a congresswoman in her fourth term, has hammered Trump throughout the race, casting herself as a bulwark against the administration. But she has not made immigration a campaign emphasis.

Ciattarelli navigates the delicate politics of immigration

Ciattarelli, who served in the state Assembly and in local office before that, had been critical of Trump during the run-up to the 2016 election. While serving in the Legislature, he supported a bill that provided for in-state tuition for certain immigrants without lawful status.

In the governor’s race, he has aligned himself with Trump on at least some of the president’s immigration policies. Ciattarelli has also said that, if elected, his first executive order would be to repeal the state’s Immigrant Trust Directive, which prohibits police from cooperating on civil immigration enforcement matters. He also has expressed opposition to giving birthright citizenship to children born to immigrants who are living in the U.S. illegally.

During a debate with Sherrill last week, Ciattarelli said he agreed with Trump that anyone with a “history of criminality” should be deported, as well as anyone who “committed a crime or scam.” But he broke with Trump slightly when he said: “I believe that everyone else should be put on a pathway to recognition.”

In front of Spanish-speaking audiences, Ciattarelli has boasted of supporting in-state tuition to students without lawful status, a practice that has been targeted by the Trump administration.

“I do not believe that anyone should be living in the shadows. If we’re giving you a pathway to recognition, that to me starts with some form of government issued ID including driver’s license,” Ciattarelli said in the Univision forum, fielding translated questions in Spanish from New Jersey residents, which he answered in English.

Why does it matter?

Ciattarelli is hoping to reach a key constituency in the state, where Trump cut into Democrats’ edge with Latino voters in 2024, as he did across the board in New Jersey. Voter unease about the economy is sure to be central to that effort.

New Jersey Democrats, too, have largely shifted their focus to the economy and driving down costs with polls showing inflation was a top concern among Hispanics. About 1 in 5 residents in New Jersey are Hispanic, according to the census.

Trump lost New Jersey last November to Democrat Kamala Harris by just 6 percentage points — a shift from his nearly 13-point deficit to Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016. Among Latino voters, Trump’s support went from 28% in 2020 to 43% in 2024, according to AP VoteCast, a wide-ranging survey of the 2024 electorate.

How the shift sits with Republicans

Republicans who enthusiastically embraced the president’s crackdown on illegal immigration may disagree with Ciattarelli’s views, but many still back him.

“There are certain people it might deter,” said Ed Durr, a former state senator and Ciattarelli’s primary foe who now backs him. “There are hard-liners who are going to see that as acquiescent to the Democrats.”

Still other Republicans say his policy looks good compared with the position taken by leading New Jersey Democrats. Mario Kranjac, another former primary opponent in the governor’s race who has embraced Trump, invoked Sherrill, U.S. Sens. Andy Kim and Cory Booker and U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer.

“Mikie, Cory, Andy, Josh and their fellow Democrats support sanctuary cities and illegal immigration which foster crime and unnecessary expense,” he said. “While Jack doesn’t.”

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on claims by Ciattarelli that he would be able to work with the Trump administration to exempt deportations of people without criminal records.

Outside a campaign stop at a pizzeria earlier this week, Ciattarelli repeated that some people should not be deported and should instead be brought out “from the shadows.” A request to the campaign to clarify how he reconciles his position with the president’s was not answered.

‘He is pretending to care’

Sherrill reacted to Ciattarelli’s “pathway to recognition” with skepticism.

“That’s not really a real thing. That doesn’t confer any status to anyone,” she said during the debate. She has promoted her background as a former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted criminals, in addition to her work on federal legislation to create opportunities for citizenship.

She summed up their difference this way: “At the end of the day, he’s always going to do what Trump tells him to do.”

Asked repeatedly if she would keep the Immigrant Trust Directive in place, Sherrill has said only that she would enforce the law.

Patricia Campos-Medina, a labor activist who is advising Sherrill, said Ciattarelli is trying to “sound compassionate” toward Latinos who are increasingly worried the Trump administration is scaling up its actions against immigrants and affecting Hispanic businesses as a result.

“He is pretending to care about immigrants and be compassionate, but he is not giving you facts,” Campos-Medina said. “We all should be asking, ‘How are you going to protect data from the Donald Trump machine? New Jersey already recognizes immigrants. How are you going to keep that promise?’”

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Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.