NJ Congresswomen Make Moves To Stop ICE

Two congresswomen from New Jersey are proposing new federal laws that would regulate ICE activity.

The bills were introduced this week by U.S. Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Nellie Pou, both Democrats.

Coleman’s bill – which she has dubbed the Fundamental Immigration Fairness Act – seeks to stop “courtroom arrests” of immigrants who are attending court hearings or other appointments related to their citizenship status.

The bill would prohibit the Department of Homeland Security from arresting or detaining anyone arriving or departing at a DHS field office or the Executive Office for Immigration Review.

“Immigrants attempting to follow immigration laws should not be punished for their good faith efforts,” Coleman said.

“The systematic arrest of immigrants attending court hearings and other appointments related to their status violates fundamental values of fairness,” she added. “These arrests encourage those immigrants attempting to navigate our already broken immigration system to stay in the shadows.”

• See Related: Refugee Jailed In NJ Followed Legal Process, Faces Deportation Anyway

Meanwhile, Pou has introduced a proposed federal law – the PLATE Act – which would ban ICE agents from obscuring or removing the license plates on their vehicles.

According to Pou, the proposal isn’t a new idea: every U.S. state and territory dictates how vehicles must be registered and display license plates.

The Department of Homeland Security has also previously established its own guidelines for displaying license plates, she added. Under its Asset and Facilities Management Guidelines, the DHS has required that “all ICE-owned, or leased motor vehicles must display DHS or GSA plates unless exempted.”

Pou alleged that federal immigration and border patrol agents have been evading state transportation laws by removing, exchanging or misusing license plates – and it needs to stop.

“The DHS’s failure to comply with state laws regarding properly displaying and maintaining visible license plates is yet another example of the agency’s blatant disregard for respect for the rule of law,” Pou wrote in a letter to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.

The proposed federal laws come as ICE-related arrests and raids take place across New Jersey.

• Read More: ‘He Did Exactly What Was Asked Of Him’: NJ Resident Detained By ICE
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• Read More: NJ High School Student Taken By ICE While Doing Laundry Has Been Released

President Donald Trump has claimed that a nationwide crackdown is needed to push back against a “large-scale invasion” of illegal immigration. On the first day of his second term, the White House announced a sweeping wave of presidential actions and executive orders.

“Over the last four years, the United States has endured a large-scale invasion at an unprecedented level,” Trump said. “Millions of illegal aliens from nations and regions all around the world successfully entered the United States where they are now residing.”

“This cannot stand,” the president added.

Other lawmakers have disagreed, including U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, who recently called Delaney Hall in Newark – the first federal immigration detention center opened under Trump’s second term – a “moral stain” on the nation.

• See Related: Lawmakers Advance 3 Bills To Limit ICE Powers In NJ
• See Related: 25 Detainees At NJ ICE Facility Detail Conditions, Make Plea For Understanding

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