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Tilted Cat Head
Administrator
Location: Manhattan, NY
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this is what I thought was already happening when I first read the OP, now it will happen in the state of NJ.
Quote:
Cops will ask: Are you legal?
After Newark killings, AG orders police to check suspects' immigration status
Thursday, August 23, 2007
BY RICK HEPP AND BRIAN DONOHUE
Star-Ledger Staff
Police in New Jersey are now under orders to ask suspects they arrest for serious crimes or drunken driving this question: Are you here legally?
Setting a statewide policy where none existed, Attorney General Anne Milgram yesterday made immigration checks a routine part of police procedure, requiring state and local officers to notify federal authorities when they have reason to believe a suspect is in the country illegally.
At the same time, the attorney general prohibited officers from inquiring about the immigration status of crime victims, witnesses or persons reporting a crime, so that unauthorized immigrants can come forward without fear of deportation.
The orders, which take effect immediately, come as questions continue to mount over the handling of a suspect in the recent killings of three college students in a Newark schoolyard. One of the chief suspects, Jose Lachira Carranza, was an illegal immigrant from Peru who was out on bail awaiting trial on charges of aggravated assault and child rape.
Essex County prosecutors and the state Superior Court said they did not know Carranza was here illegally when bail was set in the two cases -- which is why Milgram yesterday also ordered police to notify county prosecutors and the court if they believe a suspect is not authorized to be here.
"There's no question that the Newark tragedy really shined a light and brought focus to the question of what was happening throughout the state with regard to notification to immigration authorities," Milgram said. "What we found was that it depended ... on who the police chief was and what county you were in. There is a need for a uniform state policy."
The order drew praise from county and local police departments, although groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey cautioned that it could lead to abuse by local officers.
"There needs to be more training with regard to this and other related issues to ensure it doesn't go down a path of enforcing federal immigration policy or racial profiling," said Charles "Shai" Goldstein, executive director of the New Jersey Immigration Policy Network.
Milgram said the state will monitor departments periodically to insure compliance and issue an annual report on how often notifications are made. She stressed that officers are prohibited from racial profiling -- treating suspects differently based on their ethnicity.
The attorney general yesterday also set limits on participation of state, county and local officers in a controversial program run by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that deputizes police to enforce immigration laws. Milgram said officers can only act as federal deputies once an arrest has been made and cannot patrol towns simply to find illegal immigrants.
Morristown is currently the only New Jersey police department to have applied to the program, although it has yet to be accepted. Milgram yesterday encouraged other departments to apply, particularly those that operate the county jails and state prisons where they can more easily check an offender's status.
Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello said he was pleased Milgram affirmed the right of towns to participate in the ICE program. But he said officers should be able to inquire about those arrested for disorderly person offenses in addition to indictable crimes and drunken driving.
"It would be a shame if you arrested someone who was drunk and disorderly, and then you found out later that the individual was wanted for murder in the country he left," he said.
The new initiative prompted immediate questions about how the already strapped local office of ICE would be able to handle the thousands of new calls and reports that are likely to pour in as a result of the new policy.
Those concerns were underscored by a memo obtained yesterday by The Star-Ledger warning all state judges that ICE was not set up to receive a "large scale" of notifications and to wait until the immigrants were "convicted of other offenses" before notifying federal authorities.
The memo by acting Administrative Director of the Courts Philip Carchman summarized an April meeting in which federal authorities "indicated that they had limited staff and were not really set up to receive notifications on a large scale."
Scott Weber, Newark field office director of ICE's Office of Detention and Removal, yesterday dismissed questions about his agency's ability to handle additional calls and said his office has seen its staff double in the past year.
"Do we have enough resources? We do," said Weber. He added that having police report suspected illegal immigrants at the time of arrest may cut down agents' workload by eliminating the need to scour inmate lists.
The new rules make it more likely, but not certain, that illegal immigrants arrested by local police will eventually be deported. Weber said ICE would likely put detainers on most suspects who are found to be in the country illegally, notifying police they should be turned over to immigration authorities before being released.
ICE would generally hold off on deporting suspects until their criminal cases and possible sentences are complete, but if charges were dismissed, ICE could take custody and begin the deportation process. Suspects subject to immigration detainers may still be released on bail, Weber said.
Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow, whose office was criticized for not reporting Carranza to ICE when he was charged in earlier crimes, applauded Milgram's initiative. She said the office will immediately develop a model form that local police departments in Essex can use to make the referrals.
"It's a good first step to address a very significant problem," Dow said. "I think the attorney general wisely addresses the concerns about protecting the rights of victims."
Newark Mayor Cory Booker -- who has said it is the federal government's duty to enforce immigration laws, not local police -- said the new order was balanced.
"Local officers cannot inquire about the immigration status of crime victims, witnesses to crimes or persons requesting police assistance," Booker said. "That makes certain that the safety of Newark residents comes first and ensures that our most vulnerable residents are protected."
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