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The New York Times
Immigration Checks
Ordered in New Jersey
By DAVID W. CHEN and
KAREEM FAHIM, From nytimes.com on the Web, August 23, 2007
TRENTON, Aug. 22 — The New
Jersey attorney general, Anne Milgram, on Wednesday ordered local law
enforcement agencies to inquire about the immigration status of criminal
suspects and notify federal authorities whenever they believe someone arrested
is in the country illegally.
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Mel Evans/Associated Press
Attorney General Anne Milgram ordered a policy
change. |
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The directive comes amid growing
debate across the state over the role of local officials in immigration
questions since the Aug. 4 schoolyard slayings of three friends in Newark.
One of the prime suspects in the murders, Jose Lachira Carranza, is an illegal
immigrant from Peru who was out on bail despite three prior felony arrests, in
part because the authorities never checked his immigration status.
“There’s a need that was brought home to us all recently with the tragic events
in Newark for a uniform state policy,” Ms. Milgram, the state’s top law
enforcement officer, said at a news conference here, promising random compliance
checks to ensure that local officials are following the policy, effective
immediately.
A spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency, praised
the new policy Wednesday, saying, “We welcome this newly expanded cooperation
throughout the State of New Jersey.”
Ms. Milgram has talked often about helping local law enforcement officials deal
with illegal immigrants in a manner that promotes public safety without treading
on human rights. That has become more precarious for politicians since the
shooting.
On the one hand, Mayor Cory A. Booker of Newark has repeatedly said that he
opposes the notion of involving city police in immigration matters, and Paula T.
Dow, the Essex County prosecutor — whose office was one of several that did not
check Mr. Carranza’s immigration status — was even more pointed, saying her
policy was to notify immigration officials only upon conviction.
On the other hand, a growing chorus of officials — including the State Senate
president, Richard J. Codey, a Democrat, and Assemblyman Alex DeCroce, the
Republican minority leader — have recently urged the state to adopt a tougher
stance. And on Monday, Representative Tom Tancredo, a Republican from Colorado
who is running for president on a conservative immigration platform, accused
Newark officials of being complicit in the murders because of their lax
approach.
Until now, local law enforcement agencies had broad discretion — and widely
divergent practices — on whether to check immigration status or report
suspicious candidates to federal authorities. The Hudson County
prosecutor’s office, for example, already routinely does so; the West Orange
Police Department, which had arrested Mr. Carranza for assault last fall, has no
set procedures for contacting the immigration service.
There has been a similar patchwork of policies around the country.
After a Kentucky judge jailed 17 Hispanic immigrants without bail last year for
traffic infractions, the state’s attorney general, a Democrat, issued an
advisory telling local police officers to consult a national database to check
the status of people they arrest, and to report illegal immigrants to federal
authorities.
When Mitt Romney, a Republican presidential candidate, was governor of
Massachusetts, he signed an agreement with the federal immigration agency giving
specially trained state police officers the authority to enforce immigration
law. But in January, the new governor, Deval Patrick, a Democrat,
rescinded the agreement and restricted the training to corrections officials
charged with finding illegal immigrants convicted of crimes in the state’s
jails.
There are now 26 local agencies around the country that have signed formal
agreements with the federal government to deputize correctional officers to
check the immigration status of prisoners.
Under Ms. Milgram’s directive, local law enforcement officials are to ask about
any arrested person’s citizenship, nationality and immigration status, and
notify the immigration service of anyone believed to be here illegally.
The local officers cannot, however, ask immigration questions of victims or
witnesses to a crime, because, Ms. Milgram said, it is vital that the
authorities retain the trust and cooperation of the public in conducting
criminal investigations.
The United States attorney for New Jersey, Christopher J. Christie, who stood
with Ms. Milgram at the news conference, said bluntly that racial profiling
would not be tolerated and that any police officer believed to be abusing the
directive would be dealt with “very, very seriously.”
Michael Wishnie, a professor at Yale Law School who has represented
immigrant-rights groups, said that while the New Jersey directive appeared to be
a measured response to “the politics of the moment,” it still raised concerns.
“One of the problems with police doing status inquiries even after serious
offenses is it encourages people to flee,” Mr. Wishnie said, adding that it
might not be easy for local officers to sort out the roles between victims,
witnesses and criminals. Sometimes, he said, “You bring everyone back to
the station house, and sort it out there,” he noted. “The reality of
police practice is, the distinctions are often too finely drawn to protect
victims and witnesses.”
David W. Chen reported from Trenton and Camden, and Kareem
Fahim from Newark.
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