A video shows Gov. Phil Murphy (D-N.J.) appearing to suggest that he is hiding an illegal immigrant at his home in a direct challenge to President Donald Trump’s administration. The governor’s comments quickly led Trump’s border czar, Thomas Homan, to threaten prosecution against the Democrat leader.
According to The Daily Wire, during an interview at a “Blue Wave New Jersey” event over the weekend, Murphy claimed that New Jersey has been “the lead state in challenging birthright citizenship” following New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin’s effort to challenge Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants in the United States.
In a video from the event shared on X, formerly Twitter, Murphy said, “Tammy [Murphy] and I were talking about – I don’t want to get into too much detail, but there’s someone in our broader universe whose immigration status is not yet at the point that they are trying to get it to, and we said, ‘You know what? Let’s have her live at our house above our garage’ and good luck to the feds coming in to try to get her.”
Following Murphy’s comments, a source close to the Democrat governor told Fox News, “No one ever actually moved into his home, so not for a month, not for a week, not for an hour, not for a day.”
“He was just talking about someone in his broader orbit who was on edge over the broader climate and was concerned,” the anonymous source added. “He mentioned, not even to the person, he mentioned to someone else that they could move in if they want, so I think that’s where some of the misunderstanding was.”
The source told Fox News that the individual Murphy was talking about in the video was not “undocumented” but was a “legal resident” of the United States.
READ MORE: Video: Hundreds of illegal immigrants arrested so far, Trump border czar says
Asked about Murphy’s comments during an interview on Fox News, Homan said, “I think the governor is pretty foolish … I got note of it. Won’t let it go. We’ll look into it. And if he’s knowingly, knowingly harboring, concealing an illegal alien, that’s a violation of Title VIII, United States Code 1324. I would seek prosecution, or the Secretary would seek prosecution. So maybe he’s bluffing. If he’s not, we’ll deal with that.”
Homan also noted that the Trump administration will be “suing sanctuary cities” as part of the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Homan described sanctuary cities as “sanctuaries for criminals.”
“Sanctuary cities are responsible for deaths of thousands, thousands of young children throughout my career. And we’re going to sue ’em,” Homan said. The border czar later added that Trump will “end sanctuary cities.”