Trump Singles Out Middlesex County For 'Sanctuary' Policies

NORTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — Speaking at his rally Tuesday night in Wildwood, President Donald Trump criticized what he called "sanctuary" policies that are in place in several New Jersey towns. He also took special aim at Middlesex County for releasing a man from the county jail in 2018 who went on to be accused of killing three people in Missouri.

"On no issue have Washington Democrats more thoroughly betrayed the American people than on the issue of immigration," Trump said Tuesday night. "Right here another criminal alien was arrested for a violent assault in New Jersey. The sanctuary jurisdiction of Middlesex County defied the ICE request to detain him. Local authorities released him and he went on to commit a gruesome triple murder. Honestly, I could read these cases to you all night."

Trump is most likely referring to the case of Luis Perez, 23, a Mexican national who was living illegally in the U.S., specifically in New Brunswick, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said at the time. He was arrested, held and then released by the county jail and went on to be accused of killing three people in Missouri.

In December of 2017, Perez was arrested on domestic violence charges and was held at the Middlesex County jail, located off Rt. 130 in North Brunswick.

At the time of his arrest ICE sent the county jail a detainer request that Perez be held there until they could pick him up. Additionally, ICE also requested that they be notified should the jail decide to release him.

But, as Patch has reported, the Middlesex County jail does not comply with ICE "courtesy holds," as they are often called, unless the detainee has previously been convicted of a first- or second-degree offense. These are the most serious crimes, such as murder, drug distribution, carjacking and sex assault.

This was a policy voted on and approved in June of 2017 by the Middlesex County Board of elected Freeholders, which oversee county jail operations. In the past, Middlesex County has defended the policy:

"If an inmate has not been previously convicted of a first- or second-degree offense or been the subject of a previous order of deportation, the county will not hold an inmate past their release date due to the current state of federal and state court decisions," said Middlesex County spokeswoman Stacey Bersani in 2018. "A county will be exposed to liability claims of false imprisonment if the inmate is acquitted of the charges against them. The county's responsibility in these instances is to protect the county taxpayers against such liability claims."

Under their policy, a domestic violence charge would not be enough for the jail to hold Perez for ICE.

In February 2018, the Middlesex County jail released Perez, without notifying ICE, according to ICE's Newark field director John Tsoukaris, and confirmed by Middlesex County.

Nine months later, in November of that year, he was accused of shooting five people, killing three, in Missouri. Most recently, Missouri prosecutors were seeking the death penalty against him, according to MyCentralJersey.

Middlesex County officials acknowledged that yes, they specifically chose not to hold Perez when ICE asked them to. But they also fired back that ICE had 51 days to come and collect him with a warrant from a federal judge, which they failed to obtain.

"In the instance of Luis Perez, ICE was advised on Dec. 14, 2017 that the county would not honor a detainer request that was made that day, because the criteria of having previously been convicted of a first- or second-degree offense had not been met," said a spokeswoman for the Middlesex County Freeholders in November 2018, the same week he was charged with the triple murders in Missouri.

"Luis Perez then remained in custody for an additional 51 days where ICE took no action whatsoever, even though they had every right and ability to request an order of deportation from a federal judge," she continued. "Instead ICE officials chose to do nothing, which places all responsibility of Mr. Perez's actions squarely upon ICE."

"Middlesex County chose not to comply with the detainer holds because they are illegal," local Highland Park immigration rights advocate Ellen Whitt told Patch in 2017. "If ICE wants to arrest someone, they can issue a warrant for their arrest. But they would rather send a fax to local jails, asking them to simply hold someone until they get around to picking them up."

As a reaction to Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration, several towns in New Jersey declared themselves "sanctuary cities," or welcoming to undocumented immigrants, among them Newark, Jersey City, Montclair and Maplewood. There are currently efforts by some residents to make Woodbridge a sanctuary city.

When Gov. Phil Murphy ran for election, he said he would aim to make New Jersey a sanctuary state, and his Attorney General Gurbir Grewal enacted a controversial policy, called the Immigrant Trust Directive, which limits how much local law enforcement can work with ICE. As part of that directive, Grewal ordered all county jails to not renew their ICE detainer hold agreements, known as 287(g) agreements. Some county jails, such as the Monmouth County jail, have quietly defied that order.

Republican Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden defended his decision this past July:

"The governor and the attorney general have a certain policy, and we run a certain program that's in conflict with that policy. We're going to try to reconcile the two and see if we can continue our 287(g)programs here in the county," Golden told NJ TV. "It's something I believe in. I don't think we should release a criminal, in that case, to go out and do more harm to our residents here in Monmouth County."

Grewal tweeted this Tuesday night in response to Trump's speech: "I know this comes as a surprise, but @realDonaldTrump is lying about New Jersey’s immigration policies. We’re not providing 'sanctuary' to those who break the law. We're building trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve."

Keep reading:

ICE Criticizes Middlesex County Jail For Releasing Murder Suspect (November 2018)

Death Penalty Sought For New Brunswick Murder Suspect (Aug. 2019)

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