New Jersey residents should expect more arrests of immigrants in their neighborhoods and workplaces by federal immigration agents after controversial new rules for local police officers go into effect in March, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said.

ICE officials warn there will likely be an uptick in arrests of immigrants living in the country illegally in the wake of state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal’s announcement last week that he is limiting how much local and state police can help immigration officials.

The new rules -- which include limiting when police can turn over jailed immigrants to ICE agents -- drew a sharp rebuke from federal immigration officials who said New Jersey was creating a “state-sanctioned haven” for unauthorized immigrants.

“As a result of limited cooperation with local and state authorities, ICE will have no choice but to conduct at-large arrests in local neighborhoods and at worksites, which will inevitably result in additional collateral arrests, instead of focusing on arrests at jails and prisons where transfers are safer for ICE officers and the community,” ICE officials said in a statement.

A spokesman for the state attorney general’s office declined to respond to ICE’s warning of more immigration arrests.

“We don’t respond to threats. We’re focused on protecting New Jersey’s residents from harm,” said Peter Aseltine, a spokesman for the state attorney general’s office.

Immigrant rights groups also fired back at ICE’s warning that it will increase arrests in neighborhoods and businesses.

“The reality is ICE is already using unconstitutional tactics and violating people’s civil rights. Their intimidation of immigrant communities and families is the exact reason New Jersey state and local leadership choose again and again not to engage in civil immigration enforcement," said Johanna Calle, director of New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, an immigrant advocacy group.

ICE arrests have been on the rise in New Jersey, which has one of the largest immigrant populations in the nation. There were 3,189 arrests in fiscal year 2017 in ICE’s Newark region, which encompasses all of New Jersey, according to data released by the agency. That was a 42 percent increase compared to the previous year.

The increase came as President Donald Trump’s administration promised increased enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws. ICE has also stepped up efforts to audit New Jersey businesses suspected of hiring immigrants living in the country illegally.

The increase in arrests helped heighten fear in immigrant communities about calling the police, even when the immigrants were crime victims.

Flanked by police chiefs from around the state at a press conference in Jersey City last week, Grewal unveiled his “Immigrant Trust Directive,” a new set of guidelines for New Jersey’s 36,000 law enforcement officers.

The new rules say New Jersey police officers can’t help ICE with their investigations in civil immigration cases or ask suspects about their immigration status unless it is relevant to an investigation. The guidelines, which go into effect March 15, also say county jails can’t hold unauthorized immigrants for ICE agents to pick up except in limited cases.

The new rules apply only to immigration enforcement. Police can still assist in criminal cases, including those involving MS-13 and other gang activity involving immigrants, the attorney general’s office said.

ICE officials said the directive makes it unnecessarily difficult for their agents to do their jobs in New Jersey.

“Ultimately, this directive shields certain criminal aliens, creating a state-sanctioned haven for those seeking to evade federal authorities, all at the expense of the safety and security of the very people the New Jersey attorney general is charged with protecting,” said Matthew Albence, ICE’s deputy director.

Sara Cullinane, director of the immigrants advocacy group Make the Road New Jersey, said ICE’s comments about increasing local arrests were typical of the “rogue agency.”

“For years, New Jersey law enforcement used our taxpayer dollars to hand immigrants over to ICE at the expense of our communities' trust and often in violation of the Constitution,” Cullinane said. “Attorney General Gurbir Grewal has taken a significant step to restore trust, due process and fairness -- and to keep families together in the Garden State as they face unprecedented attacks from the federal government.”

Calle, director of New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, said she hopes the attorney general’s directive will lead to a better relationship between immigrant groups and the local police.

"Nationwide, cities and localities that have limited collaboration with this agency have lower rates of crimes and better relationship between local law enforcement and immigrant communities. There is no truth to ICE’s claims which uses racist rhetoric to legitimize its tactics,” Calle said.

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook.