Cresitello: State AG can't tell us how to run immigration program

Daily Record
By MINHAJ HASSAN • STAFF WRITER
September 3, 2009

NJ attorney general reminds Morristown, others about rules for 287(g) enforcement

MORRISTOWN — Mayor Donald Cresitello says he knows well that the 287(g) immigration enforcement program is not intended for random crackdowns on immigrants, and emphasized Wednesday that New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram is not in a position to tell Morristown or anyone else how to run the program.

Milgram sent letters to law enforcement agencies, including Morristown, that have signed on to the revamped federal 287(g) program, stating that police officers are expected to follow New Jersey's "prohibition on racially-influenced policing."

The Morristown Police Department, the Monmouth County Sheriff's Office, and the Hudson County jail are among 79 agencies nationwide in that program that will allow officers to act on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In New Jersey, only Morristown plans to deputize officers to do immigration checks in the field. They would be the first patrol officers in the state with the authority to run checks on immigration status and start deportation proceedings.

Hudson County does immigration checks only on jail inmates, and Monmouth plans to do the same when it gets its program up and running.

The controversial U.S. Department of Homeland Security program, which deputizes local police officers to enforce federal immigration laws, was criticized by the Government Accountability Office in March. Problems cited by the agency were mostly caused by local agencies that used 287(g) to arrest individuals for relatively minor offenses as opposed to using it to target serious criminal activity.

"Some participating agencies are using their 287(g) authority to process for removal aliens who have committed minor offenses, such as speeding ... and urinating in public," the GAO report stated. "None of these crimes fall into the category of serious criminal activity that ICE officials described to us as the type of crime the 287(g) program is expected to pursue."

The program was retooled over the last few months and, on July 10, Homeland Security approved Morristown's application to join the 287(g) program. Morristown was one of 11 jurisdictions that was approved that day.

In her letter to Morristown Police Chief Peter Demnitz, Milgram wrote that members of the community or victims of crimes must not be afraid to report crimes to local police over fear of deportation.

"Community fear that a police officer will convert every citizen encounter into an immigration inquiry destroys that relationship," she wrote in her Aug. 28 letter.

She also cited a directive she issued in 2007, following the fatal shooting of teens in a Newark schoolyard by an illegal immigrant from Latin America. The directive states that police officers could ask only about a person's immigration status after they were arrested for an indictable crime or for driving while intoxicated.

She added that such an inquiry must happen during the booking process and not as part of an "on-the-street encounter."

Milgram also wrote that arrests that are "designed to trigger an immigration inquiry" under the guise of 287(g) are strongly prohibited. Officers engaging in such conduct could face criminal prosecution or other sanctions.

Demnitz referred all inquiries about the 287(g) program to Cresitello's office.

On Wednesday, Cresitello said Milgram lacks the power to direct how local law enforcement runs the federal program. The reason, he said, is because 287(g) falls under the auspices of the federal government, not the state.

"She's overstepped her statutory authority," Cresitello said. "When an officer is deputized, he or she falls under the jurisdiction of the federal government, not the (New Jersey) attorney general. She is playing politics with the issue."

However, David Wald, a spokesman for the New Jersey Attorney General's Office, said simply that 'the attorney general (Milgram) is the chief law enforcement officer in New Jersey."

Wald said "they (deputized police officers) cannot operate as an agent of ICE until after an individual has been arrested for an indictable offense or driving under the influence.'

Milgram also directed all officers trained in 287(g) to submit monthly reports containing information on the individuals whose immigration status was checked, as well as the crimes committed and where they occurred, among other details.

When will it go into effect?
Cresitello said he ran into "a small hurdle" that forced him to postpone signing the 287(g) agreement until the end of next week. The mayor said last week he had hoped to sign it this week.

He said he didn't how much the cost of training the officers for the program would be, or how many would participate. Much of that will depend on where the training takes place, he said.

Cresitello again stated on Wednesday he won't need to seek the town council's approval for implementing, or funding for the training of town police officers in the 287(g) program.

Minhaj Hassan: 973-428-6628; mhassan@gannett.com

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