Residents Speak Out Against County's Proposed Immigration Enforcement

Cape May County residents continue to oppose an agreement between the Cape May County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office that was agreed to as part of a resolution passed at the Cape May County Freeholders meeting on Feb. 28.

The agreement is part of the federal 287(g) program that allows local law enforcement the legal authority over immigration enforcement within their own jurisdictions.

In Cape May County, three county corrections officers will be trained in immigration enforcement, according to the Ocean City Sentinel. One officer speaks fluent Spanish, another fluent Russian and the other has intelligence training experience.

Each candidate for the position will be subject to an extensive background check, and will complete the Immigration Authority Delegation Program.

Cape May County Sheriff Gary Schaffer explained during the Feb. 28 meeting that the officers will never leave the jail. Only those who are arrested on criminal charges will be subject to an investigation, with the corrections officers checking the suspects in a federal database only they will have access to.

If the suspect is discovered to be an undocumented immigrant, they will be detained for 48 hours until ICE agents arrive to pick them up, according to the report. Schaffer explained officers “won’t go out looking for undocumented immigrants.”

The legislation was established under the administration of President Barack Obama, and called for undocumented immigrants convicted of a serious crime to be deported. In January, President Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for an undocumented immigrant convicted of any crime to be deported.

It also calls for the ability to deputize local police who would assist in the arrest and deportation of undocumented immigrants.

Ocean City resident Steven Fenichel said he feels a strong sense of responsibility to stand up for those people in the community who are too frightened to speak out themselves. He also said he is disgusted “at the use of bully tactics and fear mongering which is a major component of this ICE agreement.”

He said he believes the freeholders want the federal money that comes with the program so they can use it for “rent rent for anyone detained in the new County prison from anywhere in the country.”

“The prospect of Cape May County profiting from jailing undocumented people creates a very ugly image of Judas’ betrayal for 30 silver coins,” Fenichel said. “How much is it worth to our County officials to create so much terror and fear in good, hard working people?”

At a recent Lower Township Council meeting, resident Mary Reader called public information on the partnership blurry, saying officials have said it is both pending and happening at the same time, according to The Gazette.

She urged township officials to question the freeholders on the policy before the next freeholders meeting set for Tuesday, March 14, 7 p.m. at the County Administration Building, 4 Moore Road in Cape May Court House.

“The New Jersey Attorney General’s Directive No-2007-3 requires that any exercise of federal immigration enforcement authority be consistent with and support the state law enforcement mission. Section 287(g) goes beyond that authority. The principal mission of law enforcement officers in this State is to enforce the criminal laws, and to protect the communities that they serve. It is not to enforce federal immigration laws,” the Cape May County chapter of Amnesty International wrote in a recent letter. “Like other collaborative immigration, and local law enforcement programs, 287(g) funnels immigrants into a detention and deportation system that does not afford due process rights. According to CC Wang, American Friends Service Cmte., Immigrant Rights (AFSC), NJ, ‘…this program has led to widespread racial profiling as police officers target immigrants, and people of color for stops, searches, and interrogations…’ creating distrust between communities and law enforcement. Being undocumented is not a “criminal” offence, it is a violation of immigration law. Multiple New Jersey organizations including the ACLU, American Friends Service Committee, Coalition for Peace & Justice, and more signed a letter to Sheriff Schaffer requesting that he not enter into a 287(g) agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A Move-on.org petition is also being circulated.”

To view and/or sign the petition, visit moveon.org.