Alina Habba is going after New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy after he made remarks that implied that he was housing an illegal immigrant in his home, with FBI agents reportedly pursuing interviews with multiple witnesses close to Gov. Murphy, along with the governor himself being subpoenaed.
For background, in February 2025, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy created a firestorm when he reportedly said that he was housing an illegal immigrant in a room above his garage while speaking at an event hosted by the progressive advocacy group Blue Wave New Jersey. In response, Allina Habba, the interim U.S. attorney in New Jersey, announced that she was directing prosecutors to investigate the governor, along with New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin.
In addition, according to the New York Times, Gov. Murphy specifically said that there was a person whom he knew “whose immigration status is not yet at the point that they are trying to get it to,” adding, “And we said, ‘You know what? Let’s have her live at our house above our garage.'” The governor reportedly continued, “And good luck to the feds coming in to try to get her.”
In response to Gov. Murphy’s comments, Habba appeared on Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News on April 12, 2025, to announce her investigation, saying, “We are to take all criminal, violent criminals and criminals, out of this country and completely enforce federal law, and anybody who does get in that way, in the way of what we are doing, which is not political, it is simply against crime, will be charged in the state of New Jersey for obstruction, for concealment, and I will come after them hard. Those investigations will start immediately.”
Moreover, according to press accounts, Gov. Murphy responded to Habba’s investigation by saying very little about: “We go after criminals hard, period, full stop, regardless of their immigration status.” The governor continued, “What we don’t do is we don’t go after somebody for jaywalking or where there’s no probable cause of a crime. And we’re very clear about that.”
Additionally, Amy Torres, executive director for the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, told the New Jersey Monitor that Habba’s investigation was tantamount to political theater, saying, “They’ll go after political opponents, whether those are individuals, whether those are student protestors, whether those are institutions like law firms and universities, or whether those are state governments.”
Importantly, according to coverage from NJ Magazine, an anonymous source close to Gov. Murphy attempted to qualify the governor’s statements. The source asserted that Murphy was referring to “someone in his circle of friends who was concerned given all that’s going on,” clarifying that that person has “legal status.”
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In addition, the governor himself attempted to clarify what he said as well, telling the press, “I didn’t suggest that, with all due respect.” He added, “People who have complete clean status, including American citizens, are wigged out right now, and that was — I probably could have said it better — but that’s the point that I’m making. That’s the bigger point.”
Featured image credit: Alina Habba via X