Can States Regulate Immigration? Part 6
New Jersey
15 Nov 2007 in Regulatory Policy
The Associated Press reports that a recent change in law enforcement policy has had discernible effects in New Jersey.
AP reporter David Porter writes:
In the three months since the execution-style killings of three college students, most of the anti-crime initiatives announced have yet to be implemented or show results -- with one notable exception.
Attorney General Anne Milgram's directive to police in New Jersey to notify federal authorities when they believe a suspect is in the country illegally has prompted a sharp rise in the number of queries to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, and in the number of suspects detained on immigration violations.
Attorney General Anne Milgram's directive to police in New Jersey to notify federal authorities when they believe a suspect is in the country illegally has prompted a sharp rise in the number of queries to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, and in the number of suspects detained on immigration violations.
The policy change is reported to have increased monthly queries to federal immigration authorities from about 885 per month for the first 10 months of the federal fiscal year to 1,347 in August and 1,404 in September. The policy was issued on August 22.
The shift in policy was spurred by the fact that 28-year-old Jose Carranza, considered a principal suspect in the triple slayings, is an illegal immigrant who was free on bail on child rape charges at the time the murders occurred.
Milgram's directive, announced on Aug. 22, targeted suspects arrested for violent crimes or drunken driving who appear to be in the country illegally -- a policy that, had it been in place, could have kept Carranza off the streets.
"The increase in numbers shows that the directive is working," said David Wald, a spokesman for the attorney general. "We will continue to monitor this to see if there have to be any amendments."
Law enforcement authorities have said they did not know Carranza was an illegal immigrant when he was freed on bail. At the time, while some departments did check whether a person was a legal immigrant, they weren't required by the state to check the immigration status of someone they arrested.
