Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOHN S. WISNIEWSKI
District 19 (Middlesex)
Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO
District 20 (Union)
Assemblywoman ANGELICA M. JIMENEZ
District 32 (Bergen and Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits county and municipal law enforcement agencies and law enforcement officers from entering into memorandum of agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act prohibiting law enforcement agencies and law enforcement officers from entering into memorandum of agreement with certain federal agencies and supplementing chapter 17 of Title 2A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As defined in this section:
“Law enforcement agency” means a county or municipal police department or force, a county corrections department, or a sheriff’s office, which employs law enforcement officers.
“Law enforcement officer” means a person whose public duties include the power to act as an officer for the detection, apprehension, arrest, conviction, and detention of offenders against the laws of this State.
b. The Legislature finds and declares that the enforcement of federal immigration law is a matter for federal law enforcement officers employed by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, and county and municipal law enforcement agencies, and law enforcement officers, shall not become a party to the enforcement of those laws against New Jersey residents who may be undocumented.
c. A law enforcement agency shall not enter into, and the governing body of a county or municipality shall not approve, a memorandum of agreement with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency pursuant to 8 U.S.C. s.1357(g) for its law enforcement officers to enforce any provision of federal immigration law on behalf of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would prohibit a county or municipal police department or force, a county corrections department, or a sheriff’s office,, which employs law enforcement officers from entering into, and the governing body of a county or municipality from approving, a memorandum of agreement with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), pursuant to 8 U.S.C. s.1357(g), for its law enforcement officers to enforce any provision of federal immigration law on behalf of the ICE.