Trumps Warnings Of ICE Raids Cause Debate In Essex County – Belleville, NJ Patch

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Should Essex County lend aid to federal immigration officers during “raids” such as the ones warned of by President Donald Trump last Sunday? The question continues to inspire heated debate in the county, which is home to a prison that makes millions of dollars helping ICE to house federal immigration detainees.

On Monday, Essex County Freeholder President Brendan Gill denounced a series of nationwide immigration raids planned for Sunday. At least 2,000 immigrants who have been previously ordered deported were reportedly targeted in the raids.

“We should be welcoming, not targeting, asylum seekers who are fleeing the oppression and violence of their homelands and seeking a better future for themselves and their families in the United States,” Gill said.

“While President Trump states he is looking for the ‘bad players,’ news reports signal the roundups of thousands nationwide will include ‘collateral’ deportations – the removal of immigrants who happened to be on the scene even though they were not targets of the raids,” Gill continued. “The planned separation of minor children from their parents, the detention of children and teenagers, and the fast-track deportation of those people making asylum claims is antithetical to what this country and its leadership should stand for.”

Gill said the county’s law enforcement agencies will continue to follow the state attorney general’s guidelines when it comes to federal immigration law.

In November 2018, New Jersey issued new rules which limit the types of assistance that state and local law enforcement officers can provide to federal immigration authorities, including ICE.

For example, under the new rules, a New Jersey police officer may not stop, question, arrest, search, or detain an individual simply because the officer thinks that the individual might be undocumented. In addition, police officers cannot ask about an individual’s immigration status, except in the rare cases when that information is relevant to a specific criminal investigation.

The issue is especially pertinent in Essex County, which is home to the Essex County Correctional Facility in Newark. The county-run prison makes tens of millions of dollars every year from a contract with ICE to house federal detainees awaiting removal hearings.

ICE’s Newark office deported more than 500 people between January and March, the agency recently reported.

Other local leaders to denounce the planned ICE raids last weekend included Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who emphasized that the city “stands with our immigrant community.”

“We are doing everything in our power to protect those who are most vulnerable,” Baraka said Sunday. “I have reminded all city employees that it is a violation of city policy to assist ICE and other federal immigration agencies in these raids. That includes providing information from our files and databases, or participating in any extralegal federal roundups ordered as part of these politically motivated arrests.”

Baraka said the city is working with partners such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the Newark Interfaith Alliance and La Casa de Don Pedro to make sure people know what steps to take if they find themselves speaking to immigration officers.

“President Trump’s efforts are designed to spew hatred, break up our community, separate families, and further divide us,” Baraka said. “However, in Newark, it’s having the opposite effect. It is bringing us closer together and we are more focused in protecting those who are most vulnerable.”

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Not all Essex County officials and residents were against the planned ICE raids, however.

On Friday, Nutley Township Commissioner and America Winning Coalition President Steven Rogers said the debate was putting police officers in the middle of a political battle. But that doesn’t mean the average citizen can’t play their own part, he added.

“Police may be under orders not to enforce court orders by assisting ICE,” Rogers wrote. “But, no one can order citizens not to assist ICE by calling agents and providing information. Citizens should NOT take any action but to report information to ICE. They will do their job and enforce the law.”

Rogers’ social media posts inspired several supportive comments. Seen online:

  • “Police do not have to follow unlawful orders which is what the AGs order is.”
  • “Put up ICE # I’ll pass it along I’m in a motorcycle group with almost 4,000 NJ people.”
  • “Democratic political puppets are destroying America.”

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