JACKSON – Township Council members have passed a resolution opposing Gov. Phil Murphy’s assertion that New Jersey will become a so-called sanctuary state and resolving that Jackson will never become a sanctuary city.
A sanctuary state or sanctuary city is generally defined as a location that limits its cooperation with federal authorities in the enforcement of immigration law.
Council President Ken Bressi, Vice President Robert Nixon, Councilman Barry Calogero and Councilman Scott Martin voted to pass the resolution on Oct. 9.
The council’s resolution says Murphy and the Legislature have “stated that New Jersey should become a sanctuary state … a sanctuary state means New Jersey would welcome illegal undocumented immigrants … the Township Council opposes New Jersey becoming a sanctuary state as New Jersey has some of the highest property taxes in the nation and the governor and the Legislature should be more concerned with reducing spending and property tax reduction for the legal residents and taxpayers of the state.”
The resolution goes on to state that Jackson officials “shall continue to put the needs of the residents of Jackson first and thereby determine that Jackson shall never be a sanctuary city.”
The council members urged Murphy and state legislators to reverse course on designating New Jersey as a sanctuary state.
Calogero said, “Sanctuary cities facilitate and encourage illegal immigration, they are unfair to legal immigrants who waited in line, followed the rules and showed respect to the law. Sanctuary cities impose unfair costs to taxes (and) our residents and legal immigrants should not have to bear that burden.
“Sanctuary cities promote crimes, thus jeopardizing our residents. … sanctuary cities breed disrespect for the rule of law. When police are told by politicians who run this state to look the other way to illegal immigration, what message does that send? If elected officials who pretend to be leaders turn their back on the law they dislike, where does the craziness stop?” he said.
Martin said Murphy “just does not seem to get that his decisions do not exist in a vacuum. He seems to think he passes a law, he makes a decision, it only effects Trenton, it just simply is not the case. … The governor seems intent on, instead of taking care of the residents who elected him, swelling the ranks of his party because he also has a plan to issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, which will eventually allow them to vote. This is not acceptable, driver’s licenses, a public defense fund, college education, all your tax dollars going to fund this. This is unacceptable.”
Bressi said, “I am not saying anything about people who come to this country legally, become citizens and are good for the country, are doing the right thing, come in the right way and wait their turn.
“On Feb. 17, 2001, my daughter was run down by an illegal drunk, driving with no license, no registration, no insurance. My daughter still suffers from that. She says she is lucky, all her scars are on her body and not on her face, and she is alive,” he said.
Bressi said the person who struck his daughter “had already been deported six times before this happened. He came back into the country and did this. He served three months and walked. So this resolution we are passing kind of brings back that memory.”
Alex Sauickie III, who is running for a seat on the council, said, “Some of the policies that have been imposed upon us by the governor and the Legislature are frankly outrageous, and the fact that the governor is taking $17.3 million out of our school system and is trying to devote funds to things like this, as well as legal defense funds and even rumors of funding education for folks who are here illegally, I find ridiculous.”
Andrew Kern, who is also running for a seat on the council, thanked officials for passing the resolution and said Jackson’s position “is about people who commit crimes and then not reporting those people to the federal authorities. That is what it is about.”
Resident Denise Garner said, “We need to protect our township.”