STATEMENT: Make the Road New Jersey Responds to New Jersey Court Directive on ICE Courthouse Arrests

On behalf of Make the Road New Jersey, the grassroots immigrant rights organization, Sara Cullinane issued the following statement in response to Chief Justice Rabner’s May 23rd Directive #07-19 on Court Involvement with ICE Activities:

(Elizabeth, NJ May 23, 2019) “This directive is a step in the right direction but leaves the door open for ICE to continue to undermine the integrity of our justice system. While it is critically important that the courts will limit collection of information on the immigration status of litigants, this policy still permits ICE to conduct warrantless arrests in courthouses, even in non-emergency situations. Hiding these arrests behind closed doors in “non-public places” doesn’t make them less of an injustice and won’t stem their chilling effect. Furthermore, directing ICE to make arrests in non-public areas may lead to violations of the state Attorney General’s 2018 Immigrant Trust Directive, which prohibits local, county and state law enforcement from aiding in civil immigration enforcement activities by ICE or providing ICE with access to property or office space absent a valid judicial warrant or other exigent circumstances. Any arrest ICE conducts in our courthouses threatens our justice system. Our survey of legal service providers last year found that ICE’s presence in and around the courts in New Jersey has had a significant chilling impact on immigrants’ access to the justice system and inhibits the administration of justice statewide. Chief Justice Rabner has been a leading and important voice for protecting immigrant communities’ access to the justice system. Members of Make the Road New Jersey will continue to urge the courts to take further steps to prohibit all warrantless arrests in the New Jersey courts.”

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