Police comply with order to check immigrants' status
Attorney general's directive applies to local departments
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer

LAKEWOOD - The Lakewood Police Department has already had several opportunities to comply with a recent directive issued by New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram regarding suspected illegal immigrants who commit indictable crimes.

On Aug. 22 Milgram ordered all police officers in New Jersey to inquire about the immigration status of any person who has been charged with a serious crime or with driving while intoxicated and to notify federal immigration authorities if a law enforcement authority has reason to believe the suspect is not in the United States legally.

The attorney general's directive to New Jersey law enforcement agencies came in the wake of the murder of three college students in Newark earlier this summer. One suspect who has been arrested in connection with the triple murder is reported to be a Peruvian national who is in the United States illegally.

Lakewood Police Chief Rob Lawson said that since Milgram issued her directive almost a month ago, his officers have had occasion to report the names and immigration status of several people who have been charged with driving while intoxicated.

"Things will not change very much in our department," the chief said. "The only change we will see is if we have arrested someone for a DWI and we have reason to believe that the suspect is an illegal alien. Previously, however, if we arrested someone for an indictable crime and we had reason to believe they were an illegal alien, we would routinely make inquiry to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency."

Jackson Police Department Capt. David Newman said, "We have not yet had an opportunity to implement the attorney general's directive. However, all of our officers are aware of it. When the time comes to implement it, we will. The directive is quite clear and we are more than willing to comply with it."

The directive issued by Milgram provides guidelines and establishes the manner in which local, county and state law enforcement agencies and offices will interact with federal immigration authorities. The order states:

"When a local, county or state law enforcement officer makes an arrest for any indictable crime, or for driving while intoxicated, the arresting officer, as part of the booking process, shall inquire about the arrestee's citizenship, nationality and immigration status. If the officer has reason to believe the person may not be lawfully present in the United States, the officer shall notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the arrest booking process."

The notification to ICE may be made by telephone, by fax, or by other means such as ICE may provide. The police officer will be required to document when and by what means notification to ICE was made and the factual basis for believing that the suspect may be an illegal immigrant.

Whenever a law enforcement officer notifies ICE about a suspected illegal immigrant, notification will also be made to the prosecuting authority that will handle the matter (i.e. the county prosecutor's office).

County prosecutors will, on an annual basis, report to the director of the Division of Criminal Justice on the total number of notifications made pursuant to the directive and the director will make the data public on an annual basis.

No state, county or local law enforcement officer will be permitted to inquire about or investigate the immigration status of any victim, witness, potential witness or any person requesting or receiving police assistance.

Frank Argote-Freyre, a representative of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey, said of the directive, "we (the alliance) are in the process of analyzing the directive and are monitoring anti-immigrant groups across the state. Many antiimmigrant groups think this directive implies it is open season and all of a sudden you can stop anyone. There are safeguards in place for immigrants and they can only be stopped for immigration status under certain specific conditions. People cannot use this as a tool to round up immigrants on street corners or for racial profiling."