Hudson County officials discussed counter U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiatives at Thursday’s bard of commissioners meeting.
By Dan Israel/Hudson County View
A statement from Hudson County Craig Guy was read aloud by his Chief of Staff Jenny Davis, prompting passionate remarks from county officials and residents alike about ICE aggression in the wake of an agent killing activist Renee Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The incident sparked waves of protests across the country including the recent demonstration in front of Jersey City City Hall, as HCV first reported.
“By now, we have all seen the tragic events in many American cities, including Minneapolis, Chicago, and towns right here in New Jersey. The New Jersey Attorney General guidelines outlined in the Immigrant Trust Directive prohibit local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities,” Guy said in a statement.
“As county executive, I have a standing agreement with the Hudson County Sheriff’s Office to alert my administration and the board of commissioners if federal immigration authorities are conducting operations in our county parks and facilities. All county officials must and will work together to ensure the safety of Hudson County residents.”
When asked by County Commissioner Bill O’Dea (D-2) how many times the sheriff’s office has notified the county executive’s office that there were ICE agents conducting operations in county buildings and parks, a representative from the Sheriff’s Office said that “many times the notification would go to the County Executive’s Office.”
O’Dea countered that he doesn’t remember getting any notification in the past, to which Board Chair Anthony Romano (D-5) noted there was the recent transition from Sheriff Frank Schillari to Sheriff Jimmy Davis, a three-term Bayonne mayor.
“To join in on Bill’s comment, I don’t ever remember seeing any notification that the federal government was sending in ICE people to enforce whatever they think they can enforce in Hudson County. And, to piggyback on top of that, I would certainly want to know that so that our local enforcement officers can be best advised of that and what their direction is,” added Commissioner Al Cifelli (D-9).
“And on a third level, shame on ICE. That’s all I’ve got to say. If they think they think they’re going to come to Hudson County and do what they did in Minneapolis, shame on them. Please don’t let it happen. All it does is cause chaos. We have too many good residents of Hudson County. Some of them may be undocumented, but they’re hardworking, wonderful people with wonderful families. And what’s happening in Minneapolis is a disgrace.”
Jenny Davis further stated that ICE does not give advanced warning of their presence to Hudson County before they perform a targeted enforcement action.
Responding to O’Dea, she added that there have been two to four emails in the past few months about ICE’s presence locally, to which he clarified he remembered at least one of them, but he is yet to observe any himself.
“The county executive is speaking to the new sheriff about this policy. And just so you know it’s being emphasized,” Jenny Davis added.
O’Dea felt it should be read every morning and as often as possible to officers to them.
“It should be constantly provided to them. Otherwise, they’re just going to go, ‘I didn’t realize that. I didn’t know that’ … And look, I know where the county executive stands on it, so it’s not in any way a critique of his.,” he explained.
“But based on the number of times we have either had speakers here, or read in the news media about issues with ICE agents vis a vis how many times we received a notification, it seems like there are a lot more of… the public speakers than actual emails or notices that we got.”
According to Cifelli, while Trump has claimed that ICE is “going after the worst of the worst, to take murderers, rapists, and child abusers off the streets,” their own statistics and those from Cato Institute show that nearly 72 percent of those detained from the streets do not have a criminal record.
He also said only five percent of those that have been detained have either been accused or convicted of that felonies.
“But yet, we’re told that the only people that are going to be taken off the streets and from their homes are the worst … immigrants, the worst people. It’s just an abomination. This is not the country I grew up in,” Cifelli exclaimed.
From there, O’Dea noted that he was previously punished for his opposition votes against the since cancelled contract with ICE in Hudson County in 2017 and 2020.
He added that it cost him his vice chairmanship as well as a position on the Public Safety Committee, until his return this year to both the committee and as chairman pro tempore.
According to O’Dea, a friend’s brother had worked as a foreman in a building trade union for 25 years before being deported with no warning.
“That’s the reality of what’s going on in this country each and every day. So in this individual’s case, they had been employed within a building trade union for 25 years, was foreman in the union, had a minor fraction 26 years ago, and now they were detained, gave up. They’re still, I mean they’re still trying to work through legal work, but they’re back in the Dominican Republic,” he explained.
“ … It’s one of our saddest moments in the entire history of that at least I’ve been alive. I just need to put that on record, because not a week goes by when someone doesn’t come and tell me a story about something that happened to someone. Everybody in this room knows people that are here that are undocumented. I know a number of people here that are undocumented. They’re some of the best people here that I deal with on a daily basis.”
O’Dea said that if you look at early childhood centers and even schools, populations are down because people are afraid to put their children in.
Furthermore, Cifelli noted that this was reminiscent of World War II films when the Nazis used to ask people for their papers in the street.
While the commissioners ended the discussion there, some members of the public echoed their sentiments during public comment.
“That’s what we’re going through today. Come on. This is ridiculous. It’s not ridiculous, it’s absurd and illegal. Someone has got to stop this. They’re creating chaos in Minnesota today,” Cifelli declared.
“It happened in LA a couple of months ago … People in New York have stood up to it … I think Trump’s going to be afraid of tangoing with the New York people, but we’re the next people on the target list. So we’ve got to be prepared to stand up to this nonsense.”
