Post by fiberisgoodforyou on Sept 5, 2007 6:18:07 GMT -5
Keep an eye out for the APP ans NT, interesting reversal from Mayor, Council and Chief Roth last night....
Council cool on idea for federal program
Specialized training gives police power on immigration actions
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer
Ted Miller thinks Freehold Borough would benefit from enacting a federal program that trains state and local law enforcement officers to enforce immigration laws.
At a June 4 meeting of the Borough Council, Miller asked members of the council how they felt about the idea.
The federal plan Miller referred to is the Illegal and Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. The program is referred to as 287(g). Miller referenced Morristown, which has submitted a Memorandum of Agreement to the federal government in the hope of qualifying for the federal program.
"The Morristown Police Department will have the right to enforce immigration laws," Miller told the council members.
He asked them if they would look into the law and determine what Freehold would have to do to be eligible.
"I don't want to harass anyone," Miller said, "but I don't think we should be harassed either, and I don't want us to be a doormat. Are we at the tipping point? Enough is enough. We all want a first-class quality of life. How do we get this message across?"
Michael Gilhooly, director of Northeast communications for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), explained that 287(g) allows for federal, state and local law enforcement officers to be trained and certified as immigration enforcement agents.
This allows trained officers, in the course of their normal responsibilities, to legally enforce immigration laws, including checking immigration status, etc. Gilhooly said the officers would have access to the same database ICE employs to determine a person's identification and whether his status is legal or whether a crime committed by a person, regardless of their legal or illegal immigration status, would be cause for removal from the United States.
Gilhooly said there are currently 349 trained officers nationally working with the 287(g) program. Training for a task force team is a five-week program and training for correctional officers is a four-week program. Gilhooly said officers trained by ICE will gain necessary resources and authority to pursue investigations related to many crimes, including violent crimes, human smuggling, gang activity, sexual oriented offenses and narcotics.
Although borough officials did not respond to Miller's question at the June 4 meeting, conversations with them in the days after the meeting revealed that they do not think that 287(g) is right for Freehold Borough - at least right now.
Mayor Michael Wilson said, "At this juncture we are avoiding 287(g) for all the right reasons. I don't think it's the right strategy for our town at this moment."
Wilson said he learned that the program is not designed to randomly and routinely round up illegal immigrants, nor is it designed to address overcrowding and day laborer practices and activities, nor does it allow for immigration sweeps.
"It really allows the police department to pursue illegal immigrants who have committed major crimes such as rape, murder, larceny or kidnapping," the mayor explained. "We will continue to closely monitor this situation in Morristown to determine if the program is developed and enhanced to make it worthwhile for our community. We experience our share of crimes for a small town, but thankfully, major crimes are not the norm in Freehold Borough. The solution to this (immigration) issue still lies with the federal government."
Police Chief Mitch Roth told the News Transcript he thinks 287(g) is beneficial in reporting illegal aliens who commit felony crimes who are then arrested, incarcerated and deported.
"I believe anything that contributes to the public safety is a good thing," Roth said, but he added that 287(g) "is not meant to address day laborers and hard-working people who obey the law and go about their daily business and their daily lives in Freehold.
"I think that implementing this program would undermine the trust and cooperation of the immigrant community that is here in our town and stifle the rapport we have established between the police and the immigrant community. We want the population to come to us if they are victims of crime and injustice and this law would prohibit that from happening and produce more victims of crime," Roth said. "If we participate, even with the training of ICE, a lawsuit could still become Freehold Borough's problem."
Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello said his town's Memorandum of Agreement for 287(g) was modeled after a similar agreement in Herndon, Va. He said Morristown's plan has passed the first phase of the application process and is currently before federal officials in Washington, D.C., awaiting final approval.
"Herndon has issues similar to Morristown," Cresitello said. "This law is another tool that we can use in fighting criminal activity. This cannot be used for profiling. This is federal power to enforce the law as it's defined."
He said he plans to train 10 police officers to start, but would eventually like to have all 58 of the community's police officers trained in the program by ICE.
"I am hoping the federal government approves this," he said. "I believe that if we have it here, we will rarely have to use it. Once the word gets out that people may be deported, things will change."
Cresitello said 90 percent of the residents in Morristown support the idea of seeking 287(g) status.
He referred to the June 6 arrest of seven men in Morristown in connection with a year-long investigation on gang activity. According to Cresitello, four of the men who were arrested are suspected members of the MS-13, Nietas, Bloods and 18th Street trans-national gangs.
"No one is suggesting that all illegal aliens are criminals, but it doesn't take long for a small group of people to influence many other people," the mayor said.
Morristown Police Chief Peter Demnitz told the News Transcript the police department is in favor of the use of any tool that will address criminal activity. He does, however, have concerns about victims of domestic violence in connection with the implementation of this law.
He said he expressed those concerns, which he said were well received, to the mayor.
"I don't want people to be victims twice or create fear in our town for residents. There are no absolutes, but we will always address the needs of the victim of a crime first," Demnitz said. "We look at all the circumstances and encourage people to report crimes."
At present, there are 287(g) task forces operating in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Tennessee and Virginia. Herndon, Va., is the only municipality in the nation to be accepted into the ICE program. The other agencies participating in 287(g) are correctional systems and state police agencies.
Council cool on idea for federal program
Specialized training gives police power on immigration actions
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer
Ted Miller thinks Freehold Borough would benefit from enacting a federal program that trains state and local law enforcement officers to enforce immigration laws.
At a June 4 meeting of the Borough Council, Miller asked members of the council how they felt about the idea.
The federal plan Miller referred to is the Illegal and Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. The program is referred to as 287(g). Miller referenced Morristown, which has submitted a Memorandum of Agreement to the federal government in the hope of qualifying for the federal program.
"The Morristown Police Department will have the right to enforce immigration laws," Miller told the council members.
He asked them if they would look into the law and determine what Freehold would have to do to be eligible.
"I don't want to harass anyone," Miller said, "but I don't think we should be harassed either, and I don't want us to be a doormat. Are we at the tipping point? Enough is enough. We all want a first-class quality of life. How do we get this message across?"
Michael Gilhooly, director of Northeast communications for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), explained that 287(g) allows for federal, state and local law enforcement officers to be trained and certified as immigration enforcement agents.
This allows trained officers, in the course of their normal responsibilities, to legally enforce immigration laws, including checking immigration status, etc. Gilhooly said the officers would have access to the same database ICE employs to determine a person's identification and whether his status is legal or whether a crime committed by a person, regardless of their legal or illegal immigration status, would be cause for removal from the United States.
Gilhooly said there are currently 349 trained officers nationally working with the 287(g) program. Training for a task force team is a five-week program and training for correctional officers is a four-week program. Gilhooly said officers trained by ICE will gain necessary resources and authority to pursue investigations related to many crimes, including violent crimes, human smuggling, gang activity, sexual oriented offenses and narcotics.
Although borough officials did not respond to Miller's question at the June 4 meeting, conversations with them in the days after the meeting revealed that they do not think that 287(g) is right for Freehold Borough - at least right now.
Mayor Michael Wilson said, "At this juncture we are avoiding 287(g) for all the right reasons. I don't think it's the right strategy for our town at this moment."
Wilson said he learned that the program is not designed to randomly and routinely round up illegal immigrants, nor is it designed to address overcrowding and day laborer practices and activities, nor does it allow for immigration sweeps.
"It really allows the police department to pursue illegal immigrants who have committed major crimes such as rape, murder, larceny or kidnapping," the mayor explained. "We will continue to closely monitor this situation in Morristown to determine if the program is developed and enhanced to make it worthwhile for our community. We experience our share of crimes for a small town, but thankfully, major crimes are not the norm in Freehold Borough. The solution to this (immigration) issue still lies with the federal government."
Police Chief Mitch Roth told the News Transcript he thinks 287(g) is beneficial in reporting illegal aliens who commit felony crimes who are then arrested, incarcerated and deported.
"I believe anything that contributes to the public safety is a good thing," Roth said, but he added that 287(g) "is not meant to address day laborers and hard-working people who obey the law and go about their daily business and their daily lives in Freehold.
"I think that implementing this program would undermine the trust and cooperation of the immigrant community that is here in our town and stifle the rapport we have established between the police and the immigrant community. We want the population to come to us if they are victims of crime and injustice and this law would prohibit that from happening and produce more victims of crime," Roth said. "If we participate, even with the training of ICE, a lawsuit could still become Freehold Borough's problem."
Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello said his town's Memorandum of Agreement for 287(g) was modeled after a similar agreement in Herndon, Va. He said Morristown's plan has passed the first phase of the application process and is currently before federal officials in Washington, D.C., awaiting final approval.
"Herndon has issues similar to Morristown," Cresitello said. "This law is another tool that we can use in fighting criminal activity. This cannot be used for profiling. This is federal power to enforce the law as it's defined."
He said he plans to train 10 police officers to start, but would eventually like to have all 58 of the community's police officers trained in the program by ICE.
"I am hoping the federal government approves this," he said. "I believe that if we have it here, we will rarely have to use it. Once the word gets out that people may be deported, things will change."
Cresitello said 90 percent of the residents in Morristown support the idea of seeking 287(g) status.
He referred to the June 6 arrest of seven men in Morristown in connection with a year-long investigation on gang activity. According to Cresitello, four of the men who were arrested are suspected members of the MS-13, Nietas, Bloods and 18th Street trans-national gangs.
"No one is suggesting that all illegal aliens are criminals, but it doesn't take long for a small group of people to influence many other people," the mayor said.
Morristown Police Chief Peter Demnitz told the News Transcript the police department is in favor of the use of any tool that will address criminal activity. He does, however, have concerns about victims of domestic violence in connection with the implementation of this law.
He said he expressed those concerns, which he said were well received, to the mayor.
"I don't want people to be victims twice or create fear in our town for residents. There are no absolutes, but we will always address the needs of the victim of a crime first," Demnitz said. "We look at all the circumstances and encourage people to report crimes."
At present, there are 287(g) task forces operating in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Tennessee and Virginia. Herndon, Va., is the only municipality in the nation to be accepted into the ICE program. The other agencies participating in 287(g) are correctional systems and state police agencies.