Earlier this month, Princeton joined 84 cities and counties across the United States that have signed onto the brief, which was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court by Cities United for Immigration Action.
Princeton's participation in a brief supporting Barack Obama's immigration policies may not have cost any money, as Mayor Liz Lempert said, but the municipality's commitment to changing a horribly malfunctioning system is priceless.
Earlier this month, Princeton joined 84 cities and counties across the United States that have signed onto the brief, which was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court by Cities United for Immigration Action.
Led by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and his counterparts in Los Angeles and Atlanta, the organization is calling for implementation of the president's executive order reforming immigration by providing work authorization and temporary relief from deportation to immigrants with longstanding ties to the United States who pass a background check and meet certain other criteria.
In addition to Princeton, Garden State cities that have added their names to the brief are Haledon, Hoboken, Jersey City, Newark, Paterson and Plainfield.
The brief comes in reaction to a decision by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Texas, which blocked the executive order last month, landing a body blow to long overdue efforts to protect millions of undocumented immigrants from being sent back to their home countries.
As Republican presidential candidates vie to see who can take the harshest and most strident stance in favor of nailing America's doors shut, these cities are seeking a more civilized, more humane approach.
"Right now, we have a broken immigration system," Lempert said last week. "We have a system where families get separated from one another."
Earlier this year, members of Princeton's Township Council made known their commitment to making their community friendly to the immigrants within their borders, supporting a set of resolutions recommended by the town's Human Service Commission.
Among other things, they passed a resolution calling on the State Legislature to allow people without documentation to obtain state drivers licenses - potentially making New Jersey's roads safer and allowing workers to travel more freely.
The members also voted to join Welcoming America, an Atlanta-based organization working with cities and counties to help integrate immigrants into their communities.
John Heilner, who chairs council's Immigrations Issues subcommittee, offered a perspective that is both practical and compassionate.
"Are we going to welcome people of all races and ethnicities and respect their social and economic contributions to the town and the state, or are we just going to take the easy road and leave things as they are and use people's labor for our benefit but not treat them as equals in the necessities of life?" he challenged.
These are real lives and real families we're talking about. Thank you, Princeton, for keeping that reality at the top of your agenda.
Follow NJ.com Opinion on Twitter@NJ_Opinion. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.