Mark Razzoli: Grewal Should Resign In Wake Of ICE Arrests

OLD BRIDGE, NJ — An Old Bridge Councilman who is challenging Rep. Bonnie Watson-Coleman (D-NJ 12) for her Congress seat is calling on New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal to resign over New Jersey's immigration policies, and what he says is New Jersey's "sanctuary state" status launched by Gov. Phil Murphy.

Mark Razzoli, a former Jersey City police detective, is currently a councilman in Old Bridge. He was elected as a Democrat, but recently changed his party affiliation to Republican. This summer he launched his Congressional bid against Rep. Watson Coleman, a Democrat who has represented Central New Jersey in Congress since 2015.

"You basically have two law enforcement agencies (ICE and New Jersey jails) that are being told not to work with each other," Razzoli told Patch Monday. "That is unheard of."

Razzoli released his statement on the heels of the latest ICE sweep in the state, where 54 suspected illegal immigrants were arrested last week. As Patch reported last Thursday, ICE officials said that all 54 were released from county jails instead of being transferred to ICE — even though they were suspects in criminal cases.

This is because Gov. Murphy and AG Grewal initiated a policy last year that prohibits county jails from working with ICE. The policy, called the New Jersey Immigrants' Trust Directive, is arguably one of Murphy's most controversial: Murphy's order specifically prohibits county jails from turning over undocumented immigrants charged with a crime to ICE unless ICE has a warrant.

"It's my understanding that the county jails aren't even providing ICE with a list of who is in the jail. So how can ICE get a warrant when they don't know who it's for?," Razzoli said. "This is crazy. In a post-9/11 world, we shouldn't even be having this conversation."

“Grewal has consistently chosen to support the wild left-wing ideology of Governor Murphy and Bonnie Watson Coleman instead of enforcing the laws of these United States,” he continued. “If the chief law enforcement officer in this state is going to abdicate his responsibility to protect American families simply to appease the radical left — then he should resign.”

Here are three examples from those 54 arrested last week by ICE in New Jersey:

• Luciano Trejo-Dominguez, 33, was arrested Aug. 12 by the Vineland Police Department for aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault (the victim was 13-15 years old), criminal restraint, criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child. On Aug. 13 and Aug. 14, the ICE office in Mount Laurel lodged a detainer on Trejo-Dominguez with the Cumberland County Jail. However, he was released into the community Aug. 23 and remains at large, according to ICE.
• On Aug. 18, Edgar Camarillo-Ruiz, 33, was arrested by the New Brunswick Police Department for the charge of simple assault - domestic violence. On Aug. 19, ICE lodged a detainer with the Middlesex County jail; however, the detainer was not honored, and Camarillo-Ruiz was released into the community. He remains at large.
• On Dec. 24, 2018, Elvis Rafael Cabrera-Vasquez, 38, was arrested by the Perth Amboy Police Department and charged with simple assault/domestic violence. ICE lodged a detainer that same day with the Middlesex County Jail; however, the detainer was not honored, and Cabrera-Vasquez was released into the community, according to the release. On Feb. 14, Cabrera-Vasquez was arrested by the Perth Amboy Police Department and charged with contempt-violating a domestic violence judicial order.

Getting to know Mark Razzoli

Razzoli is not just a former Democrat; he used to be the Chairman of the Old Bridge Democratic Organization. However, he told Insider NJ this September "the party left me."

“From my perspective, I feel that the party left me,” Razzoli told the media outlet. “It’s been hijacked by radical socialists whose priority is illegal immigration and an immigration policy that is dangerous to the American people. They’re talking about incentivizing illegal border crossing, when I say incentivizing I mean free healthcare, free education, free attorneys. If they really wanted to resolve the crisis, they could sit down and adjust the law and make a comprehensive immigration law, as opposed to what’s going on now.”

Razzoli has criticized Gov. Murphy's immigration policies before, speaking out against New Jersey as a "sanctuary state" at an Old Bridge Council meeting this summer.

“People came into the council meeting — radical socialists calling the president Hitler, making references to Nazis, calling us Nazis, calling myself and other members of the council racist,” Razzoli said at the time. “It’s absolutely ridiculous.”

In August of this year, Razzoli was a leading force in getting Old Bridge to launch a lawsuit against Murphy over the governor's immigration policies. Ocean County is launching a similar lawsuit, and just this week Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden said he may file a similar legal action against the Murphy administration.

The election between Razzoli and Watson-Coleman will be in 2020. Here's a map of New Jersey's 12th congressional district to see if you live in it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey%27s_12th_congressional_district NJ 12 includes towns such as East Brunswick, South Brunswick, North Brunswick, Middlesex boro, Monroe, Milltown, Franklin, Spotswood, Monroe, East Windsor, Ewing and Bound Brook, Scotch Plains and Fanwood to the north, among others.

In a separate matter, on Monday Attorney General Grewal said that the immigrant community's fear of being deported has led to little information or leads coming forward in the case of Dulce Alvarez, the missing 3-year-old girl in South Jersey:

Related: 54 in NJ ICE Bust As Search For 3 'Public Safety Threats' Goes On (Sept. 26, 2019)

Old Bridge Prepares To Sue Murphy Over Immigration: Report(Aug. 12, 2019)

Monmouth County Sheriff Defies Murphy's Order On ICE Cooperation (July 11, 2019)

Watch Razzoli speak at an Aug. 30 Old Bridge town Council meeting: