NEWARK, N.J. – New Jersey’s far-left Governor Phil Murphy is a proponent of sanctuary statehood, but that hasn’t stopped U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from sweeping the state.
On Monday, ICE announced that it had, in conjunction with Removal Operations (ERO), U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Marshals Service, arrested a grand total of 60 individuals throughout the state during the course of a 5-day sweep through April 20th.
These latest arrests were made in Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Essex, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset and Union counties.
As has been the case with past sweeps, ICE focused on illegal aliens convicted of “serious criminal activity” including sexual assault, child abuse and domestic violence.
80% are convicted criminals; 20 had either been the target of a final order of removal but remained all the same or were kicked out of the United States and returned without the proper visa. Several had prior felony convictions for serious or violent offenses, such as aggravated assault, child abuse, child sex crimes, and assault, or had past convictions for significant or multiple misdemeanors.
“The success of this operation is a direct result of the full commitment of the dedicated men and women of ICE,” reported John Tsoukaris, field office director for ERO Newark. “We will continue to devote the full efforts of our agency to protecting citizens and enforcing federal immigration law despite challenges being pursued by politically motivated individuals.”
Governor Phil Murphy has repeatedly pledged to transform New Jersey into a sanctuary state, like California, in which state and local officials are explicitly directed to avoid cooperation with federal immigration officials. His promise of protection includes those who are criminals; he’s even allotted money in the budget to pay for illegal aliens’ legal representation.
In announcing the arrests, ICE seemed to direct its comments directly at Murphy and fellow sanctuary statehooders. Hudson County announced in March 2018 that it would no longer abide by Section 287(g) of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, the provision which authorizes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to deputize state and local law enforcement to aid in the enforcement of our country’s federal immigration law.
“Despite politically driven challenges that certain local jurisdictions have created, ICE remains committed to its public safety mission and will continue to seek out dangerous criminal aliens and other immigration violators. ICE seeks cooperation with all local law enforcement and elected officials when carrying out the enforcement of federal immigration law,” ICE explained in its press release.
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