The Hudson County Board of Commissioners and County Executive Craig Guy continue to approve resolutions supporting reigning in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions, supporting the latest trio of bills moving through the state legislature.
By Dan Israel/Hudson County View
On Thursday, the board approved three resolutions related to ICE, all of the items calling for the passage of state legislation in the New Jersey General Assembly including A-1743, A-4071, and A-4070.
Bill A-1743, also known as the “Law Enforcement Officer Protection Act,” would require law enforcement officers to reveal facial identity during certain public interactions and to present sufficient identification prior to arresting or detaining a person.
This is the assembly counterpart to Bill S-3112, which the board previously passed a resolution of support last month, as only HCV reported.
Additionally, Bill A-4071 would codify the Attorney General Directive “Strengthening Trust between Law Enforcement and Immigrant Communities.” Under the bill, law enforcement officers would be prohibited from engaging in racially-influenced policing.
State, county or municipal law enforcement agencies would also be prohibited from: stopping, questioning, arresting, searching, or detaining any individual based solely on actual or suspected citizenship or immigration status or actual or suspected violations of federal civil immigration law; or inquiring about the immigration status of any individual, unless it is necessary for an ongoing investigation of an indictable offense by that individual and relevant to the offense under investigation.
Finally, Bill A-4070 would establish the Privacy Protection Act concerning the collection and sharing of personal information.
Currently, a government entity can sell, share, or transfer automated license plate recognition information to a law enforcement agency of another jurisdiction for the purpose of a criminal investigation, provided that the law enforcement agency certifies to abide by certain terms regarding the information’s use.
Under this bill, if a law enforcement agency violates the terms of the information-sharing agreement, it may be prohibited from receiving additional information or denied access to the government entity.
In addition, only certain records or information are subject to the bill’s disclosure requirements and permit a government entity to develop and make available a standardized written consent form.
In an interview, Guy touted the actions the county has taken thus far including banning ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) from utilizing county-owned property and the establishment of two committees to incept action plans.
When asked about data security at the county in the wake of privacy concerns regarding what information ICE is and isn’t using from counties and municipalities, Guy was confident in Hudson County’s Information Technology Department.
“Our IT Department and our vendors that work within Hudson County, I know that we have a high degree of security with our information that goes out to Big Brother,” he said.
“With the world we live now with technology, are there better landing spots for all governments to be in to protect all that technology? I’m sure there is.”
Guy also said he would explore anything that would protect the technology within Hudson County and the accompanying data it collects.
He said the county will continue to take measures to rein in the aggression of ICE locally, noting his willingness to amp up their response if federal immigration enforcement tactics keep intensifying.
“We met with our team today and that was one of the subject matters,” Guy said.
“I’ve tasked both the committee that we formed and our law department to help us figure out if there are any more additional routes that the county can take to further advance our efforts against ICE.”
According to Guy, that could range from another executive order to anything that demonstrates Hudson County will not tolerate ICE operations in any municipalities.
He said he is looking into the educational and school components next, with members of his team meeting at a county school last week regarding the matter.
“We want to educate our kids with their parents on their rights. Can we better educate all of our constituents for their rights? Absolutely. And the outreach will be extended,” Guy added.