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Trenton,
NJ – Attorney General Anne Milgram
today issued a directive to state law enforcement
agencies regarding their relationship with
federal immigration authorities. Milgram
said local police must inquire about immigration
status after an officer has arrested an
individual on serious criminal charges,
and shall notify Immigration Customs Enforcement
(“ICE”), the prosecuting agency,
and the court if there is a reason to believe
that the arrestee may be an undocumented
immigrant.
The
directive lists specific indictable offenses
and driving while intoxicated as crimes
for which a police officer should ask about
an individual’s citizenship, nationality,
and immigration status after an arrest.
The
directive also declares that no law enforcement
officer shall inquire about or investigate
the immigration status of any victim, witness
or person requesting assistance from the
police. “The overriding mission of
law enforcement officers in this state is
to enforce the state’s criminal laws
and to protect the community that they serve,”
Milgram stated. “This requires the
cooperation of, and positive relationships
with, all members of the community. Public
safety suffers if individuals believe that
they cannot come forward to report a crime
or cooperate with law enforcement.”
The
directive, which notes that the enforcement
of immigration law remains a federal responsibility,
was also developed to set guidelines for
municipalities that apply to U.S immigration
authorities for what is commonly known as
Section 287(g) authority. Unlike the rest
of the Attorney General Directive, this
portion of the Directive applies solely
to local, county, or state agencies that
enter into written Memoranda of Agreement
with ICE.
Section
287(g) permits the federal government to
enter into agreements with local, county,
and state law enforcement agencies to deputize
county and state correctional officers to
process incarcerated, undocumented immigrants
for federal immigration violations or to
deputize local, county, or state police
officers on the street to enforce federal
immigration laws.
The
Directive permits the full exercise of federal
immigration authority at county jails and
state prisons in relation to undocumented
immigrants who are incarcerated.
As
to Section 287(g) local, county, and state
law enforcement officers on the street in
New Jersey, Milgram indicated that these
officers must be just that – local,
county, and state officers. This is the
overriding mission of our law enforcement,
Milgram noted, in indicating that Section
287(g) officers could only invoke their
federal immigration authority after placing
an undocumented immigrant under arrest for
an indictable offense or driving while intoxicated
charge.
The
directive also makes clear that no state,
county, or local law enforcement officer
performing the functions of an immigration
officer may engage in racial profiling.
Any
inquiries by a Section 287(g) officer into
immigrant status must be documented and
reported to superiors, and those police
departments shall submit a monthly report
to the Division of Criminal Justice in the
Department of Law and Public Safety detailing
investigations into immigrant status.
In
addition, any police department with a formal
agreement with ICE that detains individuals
solely on the basis of violating federal
immigration law must have agreements with
detention facilities to house the detainees.
>>
AG
Directive (325k pdf) plug-in
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