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| Aracely Cantero (right) and a member of Make the Road NJ protest on behalf of Humberto Cantero, who is in ICE detention in Essex County. |
I have a piece up today at NJ Spotlight on the patchwork that is New Jersey immigration policy.
There are 21 counties, 565 municipalities, and 20 county jails that have their own policies for dealing with ICE. All are subject to a state attorney general directive from 2007 that sets limits on what local law enforcement can ask of people they arrest, but not on how they should respond to requests from federal immigration officials.
This leaves too much to local discretion, say advocates. They are calling for state action to create a more uniform approach to dealing with ICE. Immigration advocates generally support legislation introduced by state Sen. Nia Gill (D-Essex) that would limit cooperation with ICE by local, county, and state officials to judicially sanctioned detainer requests. ICE currently issues voluntary orders, which are valid but lack the force of a judicial order. Advocates say the bill could go much farther by limiting interaction with ICE.
Six counties work with ICE in some way — Hudson has both an enforcement arrangement and a contract to house ICE detainees, while Monmouth, Salem and Cape May have enforcement arrangements and Essex and Bergen have what are sometimes called “bed contracts.” Two counties have policies in place that limit their interaction with ICE — Union and Middlesex — and about two dozen towns have declared themselves as sanctuary or welcoming cities.
So, while immigration is a federal matter, federal policy has an impact locally, especially when federal policy is to enlist local law enforcement in the effort.
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Hank Kalet 