MIDDLETOWN – Angel Matos came to a Township Committee meeting after reading the term “illegal immigrants” on the July 7 agenda.
The agenda item for discussion by the committee – Rental Property Regulations for Illegal Immigrants – raised a few eyebrows in his group, and Matos, a member of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey, said he came straight from his office to hear the municipality’s discussion.
The discussion was based on a recently proposed resolution in Bound Brook that would require landlords to obtain proof that their tenants are legal residents, require borough officials to deny contracts to firms that hire illegal immigrants, and require police to turn in to federal immigration authorities any illegal immigrants arrested in the borough.
Matos said he was concerned with the use of the term “illegal immigrant” and that he wanted to offer his organization’s help if a similar resolution were considered.
“There appears to be a very deliberate and measured approach to your consideration, and I find that kind of odd, relative to rental regulations on illegal immigrants.”
Middletown Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger said that he put the item on the agenda to have a discussion after receiving phone calls on the issue.
“I’ve been getting a lot of calls at Town Hall here about situations about illegal aliens, 40 or so living in one house, men urinating in their backyards, muster zones popping up around town, and I think if we know this and don’t do anything about it and, God forbid, we have a fire in these houses, we would never be able to live with ourselves,”
Scharfenberger said. “So we are going to take a look at the Bound Brook resolution.”
He said that similar resolutions have been proposed throughout the state and have been challenged, and that he knew Bound Brook, located in Somerset County, was going to tread lightly on the issue to make sure it was beyond any challenge.
The resolution in Bound Brook was introduced on July 8 but was never seconded, so no vote was taken.
“I just wanted to bring this up and consider it at some point,” Scharfenberger said. “Nothing is urgent on it, and we can take a wait-and-see [approach].”
Township Administrator Anthony Mercantante said that Middletown uses the state housing code that is based on the number of occupants per square foot.
“There’s other language dealing with people living in a unit, be it a family unit, and there are all kinds of court cases on it to decide what a family unit is,” Mercantante said. “Certainly the number of people in a dwelling is regulated. Recently we had a situation of a number of people in a house who were not illegal immigrants. We have to rectify that situation from time to time.”
Matos, a Keyport resident, said that his borough went through the same process as Bound Brook and has seen other municipalities in the country attempt to enact similar resolutions, and they have been defeated.
“In Keyport we had a similar situation back in October 2006, and it was, after some analysis, decided that code enforcement would deal with some of the quality-of-life issues that Middletown may be experiencing,” Matos said. “I say ‘maybe’ really because it caught us by surprise when we heard that Middletown was undertaking this based on what I would assume is critical mass.”
Matos said that it could be tough for the police to substantiate who is legal and who is not.
“If we have the enforcement, the overcrowding that was mentioned with legal residents, it could be handled as a matter of routine,” Matos said. “Some of the things have been imposed somewhat unfairly on landlords by way of these measures. The requirements have to verify that the person is a legal citizen. But how do they know that?”
Matos said that there is a profiling aspect to such a measure. “A lot of our undocumented residents are Hispanic,” Matos said. “By nature, Hispanics seem to be looked at with a broad brush. From looking at me, can you tell if I am a Mexican or Guatemalan or Peruvian?”
He said that his group has worked with other municipalities that have considered such resolutions and wants to make sure that the quality-of-life issue for everyone involved is accomplished positively.
“The Latino Leadership Alliance serves as a bridge between the community, specifically of Freehold, and the municipality,” Matos said. “It is an opportunity to engage as you move forward in your deliberations and considerations, so that we can help by way of experience to perhaps steer policy such that it benefits the total community.”
He stressed that there is a perception that some of the people looking for work at the muster zones are not taxpayers, but that in reality when they rent they are indirectly paying taxes, and if they purchase goods they are paying their 7 percent sales tax.
“As we move forward, if there is a way that the Monmouth County chapter can engage with this committee moving forward to help mitigate some of the issues that you have,” Matos said, “with our experiences in Keyport, in Freehold, and many other places, including Asbury Park and Long Branch, we would be more than happy to provide some value to the dialogue that will be taking place.”
Committeeman Tom Wilkens responded to Matos’ concerns, stating that the measure was only at the discussion point, not something that the committee was prepared to act on.
“I know you said that you were somewhat surprised that we were undertaking this, and I just want to allay your caution to a degree that this is not something that we are undertaking at this point,” Wilkens said. “It was just an agenda item that was put on as a result of a municipality that was close in proximity undertaking a similar issue.”
Wilkens said that no actions were going to be taken in the near future, if at all.
“We don’t have any preconceived notions on this or material (on the topic),” Wilkens said. “It was just an agenda item that was brought to our attention Friday.”
Matos said that one of the programs he is a part of is the Keyport Cultural Harmony program that began as a result of Keyport’s 2006 proposal.
The group works with the police to help enforce the borough code regulations.
Matos said he wants to see the same collective effort in Middletown if such a resolution is proposed.