By: Vic Monaco
HIGHTSTOWN Mayor Bob Patten continued to get commendations this week on his stance toward undocumented residents.
But he also got a challenge.
In the wake of a whirlwind of media appearances by the mayor to discuss the borough’s no-questions-asked policy, several Latinos came to Monday’s Borough Council meeting to show their support.
"He understands why we are here in this country to make a life for our family," Gloria Enriquez told the council.
Carlos Avila Jr., of the Ecuadorian Council of Mercer County, applauded the mayor for his "courageous stance" and added, "God bless this town."
Councilman Patrick Thompson and former Councilman Mike Vanderbeck said they were proud of the borough’s position of not asking about citizenship when members of the Hispanic community seek services from police and other providers. Mr. Vanderbeck went so far as to say he’s rethinking his stance in support of police consolidation with East Windsor because he fears the borough would lose its "one-on-one" police approach.
But local resident J.P. Gibbons offered another view.
He said that while he supports a call for embracing all persons in a 2005 council resolution, "It does not state that police department and its officers will not enforce federal, state or local laws."
Mr. Gibbons criticized the language of the resolution as too generic.
"I question how and when the language in this resolution led to the general impression that we are a sanctuary city," he said. "To answer this question and obtain a clearer understanding of what my government at the local level is doing, in my name … I would like to ask the mayor and council to clarify the record as to what they meant."
"I think we need to discuss it," he continued. "I think it is somewhat out of hand and, mayor, you pick the time, the place and location and we’ll do it a debate on the issue of a sanctuary city."
In response, the mayor asked Borough Attorney Fred Raffetto to talk about his research on the subject. Mr. Raffetto responded that the Federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement had recently confirmed to him that, from a legal perspective, the borough has no obligation, nor authority, to ask about citizenship during routine law enforcement matters. Rather, he said, that authority kicks in if there is an arrest or warrant. If an inquiry is made subsequent to an arrest or warrant, he wrote in a memo, local officials have the right to refer the matter to ICE.
Sanctuary, added Mayor Patten, simply means everyone is treated fairly.
The borough’s new widely known label as a sanctuary city came after an April 10 story in The Washington Post that highlighted its policy and quoted the mayor.
The resolution had quickly followed ICE raids in the borough. It sought to restore the trust between Latinos and local police, and criticized ICE for allegedly identifying themselves as local officers. It specifically states that immigrants should have the "confidence to interact with local police without fear of immigration consequences."
The Post story seemed to link the raids and the resolution with an "influx of at least 1,300 Latin Americans," with no substantiation, into the town of about 5,300.
Since the story, Mayor Patten’s media appearances have included Fox-TV, National Public Radio, radio talk shows in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C, an Austrian television network and the Al Dia Hispanic newspaper.
Along with the spotlight have come myriad e-mails, many very critical of the borough’s stance. And locally, while many people have offered commendations, others have quietly criticized the mayor for publicizing it nationally, especially at a time when the borough is seeking developers for the former rug mill and Minute Maid properties and the regional school district has financial problems.
Mayor Patten may have heard those comments. On Monday he said that while he is "very proud to keep explaining it (the local policy) to the world, by no means was there an initiation on my part to bring the media here."
He also commended the Borough Council and Police Chief James Eufemia for their role in supporting the policy.
