Phil Murphy sparked Republican outrage over recent comments suggesting he and the state's first lady offered an immigrant with uncertain immigration status the opportunity to stay at their home, but he didn't actually make the offer and the person never moved in, his spokesperson said Tuesday.
The second term Democratic governor was relaying a conversation he had had with with first lady Tammy Murphy about someone they knew who was legally in the country but worried about their status, his spokesperson Mahen Gunaratna said.
“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,” Murphy said.
Mario Kranjac, a Republican running to succeed Murphy, said it’s time for immigration officials to pay the governor a visit.
The arrests led immigrant rights advocates to call out “Where’s Governor Murphy?” during a news conference held by Newark’s mayor to deride the immigration enforcement.
