Departments given tools to enforce immigration laws
By Paul Koepp, Staff Writer
A directive by the state attorney general that would require police departments to help enforce immigration laws is being met with a mixed reaction by local police forces.
The directive, issued Aug. 22 by Attorney General Anne Milgram after the arrest of illegal immigrants in connection with the murder of three Newark college students, requires law enforcement officers to inquire about suspects’ legal residence status in cases involving drunken driving or serious “indictable” offenses.
Officers with “reason to believe that the person may not be lawfully present in the United States” must notify the Immigration Customs Enforcement agency and the court system, according to the directive.
Police in South Brunswick, Jamesburg and Cranbury declined to comment on the specifics of how the directive would be carried out, saying that they would follow policy guidelines set by the Middlesex County prosecutor’s office.
Still, their responses to the directive indicated some confusion.
Jamesburg Acting Police Chief Martin Horvath said a check of immigration status would be triggered if a suspect could not produce proper identification like a driver’s license. However, South Brunswick police spokesman Detective Jim Ryan said a lack of identification would not automatically lead to a check because identity could be verified through records like vehicle registration.
While some officials have complained that the directive is not specific enough, Acting Chief Horvath said it was actually an improvement because an officer would know where to file a report about a possible illegal immigrant.
”It’s given more a focal point as far as who to contact,” he said. “You don’t want to be out on the road in the middle of the night pulling your hair out, or just decide not to deal with it.”
Acting Chief Horvath said that although Jamesburg’s Hispanic population has increased, “It hasn’t affected our crime rate. Things have remained status quo.”
Cranbury Police Chief John Hansen said the directive is somewhat open to interpretation, because an officer must use his or her discretion to decide whether to check into the immigration status of someone who is arrested.
”There are so many questions about this. It’s still in its infancy,” he said.
However, Chief Hansen does not expect the directive to have much of an impact in Cranbury.
”(Illegal immigration) isn’t a big issue. It’s just not something we see a lot here,” he said.
The Middlesex County prosecutor’s office and the Monroe Township Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Some advocates for immigrants are concerned that the directive will cause tensions between police and immigrants.
Maria Juega, co-founder and treasurer of the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund, said that although safeguards are built into the directive to prevent witnesses and victims from being targeted for immigration inquiries, she fears that some officers could overstep their authority.
”My sense is that many cops are going to go ahead and refer anyway because they have nothing to lose, other than some additional paperwork,” she said. “It may even produce an incentive to use it as a tool to get rid of certain people by simply charging them with an indictable offense whether the incident warrants it or not.”
— Packet Group reporter Nick Norlen contributed to this story.

