With Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raiding a Newark business last week without a warrant — three days into the new Trump administration — law enforcement and town officials throughout Essex County are preparing for what’s next and having renewed conversations about Trump’s promise of “mass deportations” and not voluntarily cooperating with ICE officials.
The matter was discussed at the South Orange Village Council meeting on Monday, Jan. 27, after concerned resident Jack Keating said he and other residents and students are worried about their immigrant friends and neighbors.
“I’ve heard both teachers and families alike being very concerned about, essentially, ‘What if they come for my child?’…’What if they come for my friends?’” resident Jack Keating said. “….What sort of precautions are going to be done to help protect local families, either in South Orange, Maplewood, and, essentially, a lot of the minority communities that we currently have?”
In 2017, South Orange became a “sanctuary city” and Mayor Sheena Collum has recently stated that she will be resharing that resolution. In 2019, Collum reiterated that South Orange would not voluntarily cooperate with ICE. And conversations about a unified response among leaders have been renewed.
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“Myself and the police chief have already been discussing the nuances of new laws, new executive orders, things of that nature,” said Mayor Collum. “I know from Superintendent [Jason] Bing, who communicated to the municipalities that he’s in close contact with the New Jersey Department of Education that has issued guidance to all of the schools.”
Last week the NJDOE gave districts guidance on how to keep immigrant students safe while following federal law and ensuring that immigrants’ rights are not violated, including not allowing ICE agents into a school without a search warrant signed by a judge.
“This is such an important issue to the South Orange Council, to members of our community, and not just people in our community, but people who work in our community, people who visit our community,” Collum said. “I have reached out to a nonprofit organization that is a leader in immigrant justice and immigrant rights. They were first on the scene in Newark and responded very, very quickly. And so we’re going to need as many resources as possible and to be prepared.”
South Orange Police Chief Ernesto Morillo, who is the president of the Essex County Police Chiefs Association, said there would be a joint statement from the association and the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office this week that should reassure people.
“There were a lot of meetings today going over just this, and the purpose of our statement is to calm our communities and let them know where we stand to allay their concerns as to what is going on nationally,” Morillo said.
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