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Father Kenneth Hallahan of the Black Horse Pike Ministry of the Diocese of Camden spoke of seeing parishioners separated from their children. One father was handcuffed in front of his 3-year-old son, he said.

Some of his parishioners, undocumented workers, admit to not attending services because they fear police officers stationed on the Black Horse Pike might confiscate their cars, he said.

"Our money says 'In God We Trust,' " Hallahan said in impassioned remarks. "Rejection of immigration is a rejection of that God."

Hallahan was among members of a newly formed coalition of activists calling themselves the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice who pressed the cause of immigration reform Wednesday from the steps of St. Joseph Pro-Cathedral in Camden.

The rally came as the Christie administration this week submitted an amicus brief in federal court, alongside Texas, Louisiana, and South Dakota, in an effort to stop President Obama's use of executive action to defer the deportations of millions of unlawful immigrants in certain categories.

"This is a shameful political move," said Johanna Calle, coordinator for Alliance for Immigrant Justice.

The president's action would enable millions of undocumented individuals to emerge from the legal shadows, including by acquiring driver's licenses, backers say.

Calle said 10 states currently issue driver's licenses to undocumented workers, but New Jersey - despite having the fourth-highest undocumented-immigrant population in the country, with more than 525,000 - is not one of them.

Gov. Christie's office did not respond to requests for comment.

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Immigration reform rally seeks a New Jersey for all