Thread: Freehold, New Jersey wants to crack down on illegals.

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Immigration law addressed at Borough Council meeting
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer



FREEHOLD - It is common knowledge that many communities in New Jersey are dealing with an influx of illegal immigrants.

Freehold Borough is among the towns that are struggling with overcrowded housing, increasing and/or changing school demographics and strained social services due in part to a new wave of immigrants.

In a bid to cope with some of the impact brought on by an influx of illegal immigrants, elected officials in Riverside, Burlington County, recently adopted the Riverside Township Illegal Immigrant Relief Act.

The law prohibits people from hiring an illegal immigrant for a job or renting or leasing a living space to an illegal immigrant. It prohibits the establishment of a day laborer center that does not verify work status.

According to the ordinance, any for-profit entity that aids and abets illegal immigration will be denied approval for a business permit and township contracts for no less than five years. Any property owner who knowingly allows an illegal immigrant to use, rent or lease their property is subject to a fine of $1,000.

The Riverside law has borough resident Tom Baldwin concerned and worried. Baldwin is a member of Casa Freehold, an advocacy group for immigrants. He has been vocal and visible in his support of rights for the borough's immigrant population. He brought his concerns to the Oct. 2 meeting of the Borough Council.

Baldwin said he had read that officials in the borough and other municipalities had requested a copy of the Riverside ordinance. He wanted to know why Free-hold officials would want to see the River-side law and what they intended to do with that information.

No one on the council answered Bald-win's question immediately, but later in the meeting Mayor Michael Wilson did address his concern.

"As for the Riverside ordinance, we have our own problems here. Freehold Borough is dealing with our own problems. The federal government needs to wake up and begin to deal with the issue of illegal immigration," Wilson said. "We are being inundated with it just as many other towns are. It is not good, however, to comment on the actions of other towns. We do what we can do according to the law. Kudos to Riverside. They're trying."

In an interview with the News Tran-script, Colorado Congressman Tom Tan-credo, who has become a national figure in the illegal immigration issue, said he thought the Riverside ordinance was "great."

"State and local governments will be taking this issue into their own hands because the federal government is AWOL," Tancredo said. "This is like a political temperature gauge to show us how bad things are and how upset people really are with this situation. If politicians were smart they would look at this political temperature gauge and respond to it. Some will and some won't."

Freehold has an ever increasing illegal problem. I am glad to see the Mayor and their town council starting to address the problem.

Hope we can get a FOCUS Campaign going for Freehold, NJ and Brick, N.J.

These two towns are being invaded by illegals.

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