As Essex County’s new restrictions on cooperation with federal immigration authorities took effect this month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security condemned the measure.
“The Essex County Board of County Commissioners passed a resolution restricting the use of county property and resources to assist with civil immigration enforcement activities. These sanctuary policies were officially implemented on July 9,” the agency said in a news release.
The resolution, sponsored by Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill, in May, bars U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers from entering nonpublic areas of county property or county jails unless they present a judicial warrant or order.
“The Essex County Commissioners stand by our policy regulating ICE coordination and activities on county property,” Gill, a Democrat, said.
DHS spokeswoman Lauren Bis said the policy would make arrests more dangerous.
“When sanctuary politicians refuse to cooperate with ICE law enforcement, they put the safety of the public and our officers at risk. It also requires us to have a larger presence to arrest criminals at large instead of in the controlled setting of a jail,” she said.
Gill defended the county’s policy on legal and fiscal grounds, centering his argument on a key distinction between judicial and administrative warrants.
Judicial warrants are issued by independent judges in the federal or state court system. Administrative immigration warrants are issued through the federal immigration system within the executive branch and do not require approval from a federal or state judge.
Because most ICE arrests are made using administrative warrants, supporters argue measures requiring a judicial warrant helps protect due process rights and prevents county resources from being used in federal civil immigration enforcement.
“It is fiscally responsible — the taxpayer money that funds county law enforcement should be spent protecting and serving county residents, not subsidizing the massive federal ICE budget, which dwarfs the entire Essex County budget,” Gill said.
County Commissioner President Carlos Pomares stood by the decision and said it was meant to push back against the agency’s tactics.
“We are here to help all residents, and the brutal ICE activities we have seen the past year and a half push law-abiding immigrants away from community participation, robbing us of all the ways they enrich our culture and society,” he said.
The measure is modeled on New Jersey’s Immigrant Trust Directive, which limits cooperation between state and local law enforcement agencies and federal immigration authorities. Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed legislation earlier this year codifying the directive into state law, along with a separate measure restricting the collection and sharing of certain immigration-related information.
Other New Jersey counties, including Camden, have adopted similar policies. Newark, home to the Delaney Hall immigration detention facility, has also enacted measures limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Delaney Hall, one of New Jersey’s largest immigration detention facilities, has faced repeated allegations of human rights abuses and unsafe conditions, including inadequate medical care, insufficient food and a lack of due process for detainees.
Newark and New Jersey are pursuing separate legal actions related to the facility. The city has challenged Delaney Hall’s operation in court, while the state is seeking to compel the facility’s operator to allow comprehensive health and safety inspections.
Federal officials and GEO Group, the facility’s private operator, have resisted those efforts.
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