Old Bridge Prepares To Sue Murphy Over Immigration: Report

OLD BRIDGE, NJ —Republican-leaning Old Bridge is joining deep-red Ocean County in a fight back against Gov. Phil Murphy's so-called "sanctuary state" policies, where Murphy earlier this year directed his attorney general and New Jersey county jails to limit their cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Last week, the Old Bridge township council voted to initiate a lawsuit against Murphy's administration over the issue, MyCentralJersey reported.

Last Monday, Aug. 5, the Old Bridge town council voted 7 to 2 to approve the beginning stages of a lawsuit. Councilman David Merwin and Councilwoman Edina Brown were the only two who voted against the measure.

This past November, as Patch reported, New Jersey General Gurbir Grewal issued a directive to all New Jersey law enforcement: Limit your cooperation with ICE. Murphy's orders were called the "Immigrant Trust Directive."

County jails and sheriffs were told they could not provide ICE with access to state or local law enforcement resources, including equipment and databases. At the local level, police officers were told not to participate in immigration arrests or ask someone's immigration status.

The directive was widely seen as an attempt from top New Jersey Democrats to fight back against President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.

As part of that directive, county jails were also prohibiting from renewing so-called Section 287(g) agreements with the feds. In the past, under 287(g) county jails agreed to turn over undocumented immigrants charged with a crime to ICE within 48 hours.

Under Murphy's new orders, county jails in New Jersey now cannot hand someone over to ICE unless they have serious or violent charges pending against them, or final deportation orders. ICE must now first get a warrant if they want to detain someone in the county jail for a suspected immigration violation. This is a legal step ICE rarely had to take before, even under President Barack Obama.

The 287(g) agreements are a lightning rod: Immigration advocates say the agreements deputize local law enforcement with immigration enforcement, a power they do not have. They also say such agreements deprive someone of due process, as they are being unfairly taken into ICE custody. And they say it chills the relationship local immigrant communities have with police, and deters them from reporting crimes, such as domestic violence.

This summer, the Ocean County Board of Freeholders approved filing a similar lawsuit against the AG's office over 287(g) and the so-called "detainer holds."

Last week's resolution now gives Old Bridge permission to sue Murphy. It was introduced by Councilman Mark Razzoli and co-sponsored by Councilwoman Dr. Anita Greenberg-Belli, MyCentralJersey reported.

"We must place public safety above any political agendas." Razzoli said, according to the report. "State government thinks it’s acceptable to strong arm sheriffs into ignoring the federal immigration laws. This policy is insane and anti-American. This is about not just protecting our communities, this is about protecting our members of law enforcement."

"ICE targets criminals only and our attorney general and our governor are prioritizing criminals over the residents of this state," agreed Greenberg-Belli.

Razzoli said he is not advocating against legal immigration. Razzoli himself used to be the chair of the Old Bridge Democratic party, and he is still a Democrat.

Merwin — who voted against the resolution — said he supported past Old Bridge resolutions against giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, but will not "waste our taxpayers' money to sue another governmental agency," the newspaper reported.

Old Bridge has always run counter to how the rest of mostly Democrat-Middlesex County operates.

Two years ago, the all-Democrat Middlesex County Board of Freeholders ordered the Middlesx County jail to not comply with ICE detainer holds.

When she was running for governor, Kim Guadagno, a Republican who used to be the Monmouth County Sheriff, sharply criticized Middlesex County for that decision. She even held a press conference outside the county jail in North Brunswick during her campaign to make her point.

In the fall of 2017, ICE picked up 36 people, all of whom had been previously charged with a crime and held at the Middlesex County jail, but then released. Those who were released by the jail included a Philippines citizen charged with sexually assaulting a minor, a Mexican citizen charged with his second DUI and an El Salvadorian citizen charged with selling drugs. They are also all accused of being in this country illegally.

Then in 2018, the Middlesex County jail released Luis Perez, a Mexican national who was living illegally in the U.S. He was arrested on domestic violence charges and held at the Middlesex County jail for 51 days. ICE said the county jail never notified them he was there.

"Middlesex County failed to honor the detainer and released the individual without contacting ICE," said an ICE spokesman in the Newark field office.

After he was released by the county jail, Perez went on a shooting spree in Missouri, authorities said, killing three people.

Read the original article: Old Bridge authorizes lawsuit against NJ directive limiting police cooperation with ICE