With deportation at the top of the Trump administration's priorities.

Immigrant rights activists in New Jersey also say they're preparing to act, and planning for the potential of those mass deportations.

Nonprofits, local leaders and even the attorney general have swung into action, educating immigrant communities about their rights and as senior political correspondent David Cruz reports, pushing for more protections at the state level to the millions of illegal aliens that Joe Biden's release in our country, in violation of federal law.

You better start packing now.

Former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thomas Homan is president elect.

Trump's new borders are with broad powers to implement the new administration's restrictive immigration policies.

Homan has made it clear that a new hard line on immigration is imminent, and that could include raids on workplaces, hospitals and areas where undocumented people gather.

The president elect has also named immigration hardliner Stephen Miller as a deputy chief of staff.

Both men have raised the specter of prison camps as a precursor to mass deportations.

Advocates and activists here were quick to mobilize with the demonstration in Jersey city over the weekend, where the feeling was a mixture of fear and defiance.

I think, you know, the fear here is, yes, what's to come from the Trump administration.

But I think there's also a fear that our leaders might not be willing to stand up to defend the state.

But Torres says she was heartened by the expressions of support from law enforcement officials, like the state attorney general and political leaders like New York Mayor Raz Baraka.

Of all the states, nobody passes new Jersey around, right?

And so I think there's a real opportunity here to demonstrate leadership, especially as we head into our state elections in 2025.

And if you believe for one second that these folks think that you got to be safe because, oh, I didn't break the law, so I'm okay.

No.

It means that they want to get rid of everyone.

Everyone.

Not just people who broke laws.

Your presence here and in their mind is breaking the law.

They want to remove everyone.

And if you don't understand that, they will be confused.

And we have to make sure that everybody understands that we are all in danger here.

I think that we should be confident in Trump's promise that mass deportations is a part of the plan.

How we will go about it is important that we answer that question in the next three months.

Would they just begin to racially profile folks, which sure would, you know, result in sort of immediate action by groups like the ACLU, but it could still do it.

Would it be some sort of lists?

If so, if so, what lists would he target first?

Meanwhile, immigration attorneys are gearing up for a new reality of mass deportation efforts, detentions and executive orders aimed at a population effectively demonized by the president elect.

In his run up to the election, Lina Consuela is with the Detention and Deportation Defense Initiative at Rutgers Law School.

She says immigrant communities will have to prepare for a dangerous new reality.

Outside of that, I think there will be a, you know, the sort of the, the targeting of anyone without authorization, maybe the emboldening of police to conduct, enforcement actions.

The weakening of sanctuary cities is going to create an extremely difficult and hostile atmosphere that would also be consistent with President Trump's agenda to make, conditions of employment and living.

So hostile that people self-deport.

On immigration, the nation has come a long way from one leader who promised much, but was actually able to deliver very little to a new one bent on a total course reversal.

Armed with an electoral mandate and the political landscape seemingly cleared for achieving his goals.

I'm David Cruz, NJ Spotlight News.