Thread: Proposal to Crack Down on Illegal Immigrants Stalls

Proposal to crack down on illegal immigrants stalls during Bound Brook council meeting

By KARA L. RICHARDSON
STAFF WRITER

A heated discussion ensued Tuesday night as the Borough Council was about to consider a proposal that would crack down on illegal immigrants.

Councilman Jim Lefkowitz's proposal, which would require landlords to obtain proof that tenants are legal residents, was introduced at Tuesday's meeting but did not move forward.

Mayor Carey Pilato, who said he's against the proposal, said the measure may bring additional legal fees and issues to the borough, which is still in the shadow of the U.S. Department of Justice investigation.

Lefkowitz's proposal comes four years after the U.S. Department of Justice cited borough officials for waging a multifaceted campaign to drive out Hispanics. Bound Brook, while not admitting guilt, agreed to settle the suit, paying a $30,000 fine and creating a $425,000 compensation fund for victims of discrimination between 1996 and 2002.

Linda Brnicevic, a Bound Brook resident, said Lefkowitz's proposal "is just going to be racial profiling." "I don't know when Bound Brook is going to learn,'" Brnicevic said. "You got slapped with the DOJ investigation. You had to take sensitivity classes, right?"

Lefkowitz, who said he embraces the Hispanic community in the borough, said his proposal is specific to illegal immigrants. He had said it's time for the borough to fight illegal immigration as there are several new housing projects on the horizon which may include several rental units, and he wanted to have new rules on books before they are occupied.

John Rucki, co-chair of New Jersey Citizens for Immigration Control, cited a 2007 The Federation for American Immigration Reform report saying illegal immigration costs New Jersey residents $2.1 billion in costs such as education, health care and incarceration.

"I admire Mr. Lefkowitz for his courage to bring it up,'" Rucki said.

Carmen Morales, a part-time realtor and full-time school bus driver, came to the meeting from Edison to commend Lefkowitz for his proposal.

Morales, who is a United States citizen of Puerto Rican descent, is against the living conditions for many illegal immigrants.

""People should not be living the way they are living. People are looking the other way and you are right on the money,'" Morales said to Lefkowitz.

Pilato said the borough already has a yearly inspection schedule for its 1,200-1,300 rental units, which make up approximately half of the borough's housing stock.

Grace C. Lemoke-Duebecke, a homeowner and landlord in Bound Brook, wanted to know how Lefkowitz expected landlords to check the legal status of a tenant.

"It's going to fall down on us,'" Lemoke-Duebecke said.

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed lawsuits challenging similar proposals adopted in a number of other municipalities across the country.

Lefkowitz's proposal also calls for police to determine the legal status of any person arrested and to make sure that if any illegal immigrant is taken into custody, that person is turned over to federal Immigration and Custom Enforcement officials. He has said that proposal is consistent with current federal policy.

The proposal also calls for the borough to deny any contracts to a firm that hires illegal immigrants.

Kara L. Richardson can be reached at (90 707-3186 or krichardson@mycentraljersey.com.

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbc ... /807080404

I support the councilman's effort. But bills that demand that tenants show proof that he/she is legaly in the country has been tried with no success. Courts have ruled against that. Councilmembers need to get a new game plan against illegal aliens and not just recycle bills that have been passed by other councils and then gotten struck down by courts, i.e. Escondido, CA.

Whenever I read that a councilmember who claims to be against illegal aliens is proposing a bill known to have failed, I begin to think that this councilmember is just pulling our chain.