Morristown close to deputizing police officers as immigration agents
by Tanya Drobness
Thursday September 10, 2009, 8:34 PM

MORRISTOWN -- The town is close to deputizing its police officers to make them immigration agents. But if Local 43 of the Police Benevolent Association doesn't agree to participate in the program, the whole deal could fall through, according to federal officials and the police union's attorney.

The police union's approval is being sought because deputized officers would have to commit to the program, known as 287(g), for at least two years under a memorandum of agreement between the town and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, officials said.

"According to the town, they need our consent in order for the memorandum to go through," said Paul Kleinbaum, the PBA's attorney.

Kleinbaum said members of the organization will review the memorandum. "I don't know what our position is yet," he said.

Morristown's business administrator, Michael Rogers, said the town is "in discussion" with the PBA but declined further comment.

Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello, who lost the June 2 Democratic primary and has just four months left in office, has said he is ready to sign on to the federal immigration program despite some local opposition.

Cresitello has said six of Morristown's 58 officers will undergo 40 hours of training before the end of the year. Once deputized, the officers will be able to initiate deportation proceedings against illegal aliens charged with serious crimes.

The Monmouth County Sheriff's Office and the Hudson County Department of Corrections also are among the 79 departments nationwide that have been accepted into the program, which has been overhauled to allay fears it would be used to target or harass immigrant groups.

But the program has come under fire by immigration advocates who fear the program will drive immigrants out of the community and increase tensions between residents and the police.

The Hudson County Department of Corrections has been participating in the program since August 2008, according to ICE's website.

The program initially was criticized by Congress' investigative arm, the Government Accountability Office, for failure to supervise participating agencies.

In May, government investigators said that in some cases, police officers who had been deputized as immigration agents swept up large numbers of immigrants for minor offenses, such as speeding and drinking in public, in an effort to rid their communities of those who were in the U.S. illegally.

Under the revised program, participating agencies are required to make the identification of illegal immigrants who commit serious crimes their priority.


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