Bill Text: NJ S1412 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Directs AG to enter into memorandum of understanding with U.S. Attorney General empowering certain corrections officers to investigate immigration status of inmates.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-02-06 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Law and Public Safety Committee [S1412 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-S1412-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH PENNACCHIO
District 26 (Essex, Morris and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Directs AG to enter into memorandum of understanding with U.S. Attorney General empowering certain corrections officers to investigate immigration status of inmates.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning federal immigration enforcement by certain corrections officers and supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Attorney General shall enter into a Memorandum of Understanding, as provided in Section 287(g) of the federal Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. s1357(g)), with the United States Attorney General concerning the enforcement of federal immigration and customs laws by State and county corrections officers who have been specifically designated, authorized, empowered and trained for that purpose.
The memorandum shall outline the duties of those designated corrections officers. Those duties shall be limited to investigating whether inmates who are scheduled for parole or release are legal residents of the United States and, in those cases where the investigation reveals that an inmate's presence in the United States is not authorized under federal law, to report that information to United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the Department of Homeland Security.
The memorandum shall also include, but not be limited to, the training curriculum to be utilized; protocols of cooperation outlining the working relationship between the affected State, county and federal officers, offices and agencies; the amounts and payment dates of any federal moneys authorized and payable to New Jersey to defray the costs incurred in enforcing federal immigration and customs law pursuant to the memorandum; and certification that the State and county corrections officers authorized and empowered in accordance with the memorandum are acting under the color of authority under the provisions of Section 287(g) of the federal Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. s.1357(g)) and shall be considered to be acting under color of federal authority for the purposes of determining the liability, and immunity from suit, for a civil action brought under federal or State law.
2. The Commissioner of Corrections and the administrators of each county correctional facility shall prepare a list of State and county corrections officers who have volunteered, and are approved by their employer, to be designated to enforce United States immigration and customs laws by investigating whether inmates who are scheduled for parole or release are legal residents of the United States and shall submit that list to the United States Attorney General. The Attorney General shall select the officers to be so designated from that list. In selecting the county corrections officers, the Attorney General, to the greatest extent practical, shall seek to ensure that officers employed by each county correctional facility are selected.
The duties performed by the officers designated pursuant to this section and who are trained, authorized and empowered pursuant to the memorandum entered into under the provisions of section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be deemed to be within the scope of their authorized duties as State and county corrections officers and parole officers under New Jersey law.
3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month following enactment, provided, however, that the Attorney General, Commissioner of Corrections and the administrators of each county correctional facility may take such anticipatory administrative action in advance thereof as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill authorizes the Attorney General to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States Attorney General, as provided under section 287(g) of the federal Immigration and Naturalization Act (8 U.S.C. s.1357(g)) to train and empower certain designated State and county corrections officers to perform limited enforcement functions and activities.
It is sponsor's belief that without a 287(g) agreement ensuring Federal oversight of immigration enforcement, there is potential that the State of New Jersey may lack the legal authority necessary to enforce certain violations of federal immigration law. It is the sponsor's position that an explicit agreement, or Memorandum of Understanding, with the U.S. Attorney General could eliminate the possibility that a State immigration enforcement initiative could be challenged in court on the grounds of federal preemption.
This bill would emulate similar successful plans that were implemented in the states of California and Arizona. For instance, in November, 2005, the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) began processing illegal immigrant inmates at their intake center as part of the 287(g) program. By processing illegal immigrants who met the criteria for early release and turning them over to the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the federal Department of Homeland Security.for removal, the ADC has realized a cost savings of $2,985,655.
Under the provisions of the bill, the designated officers would be trained and empowered to investigate whether inmates scheduled for parole or release are lawful residents and, in those cases where that investigation reveals that the inmate's presence in the United States is not authorized under federal law, to so notify ICE.
The terms of the memorandum are to set forth the training curriculum, protocols for the working relationship between the affected State, county and federal officers, offices and agencies; the amounts of federal assistance the State is to receive under the Homeland Security Appropriations Act for participating in the ICE 287(g) program and a certification that the participating corrections officers and parole officers are acting under color of federal authority for the purposes of determining the liability, and immunity from suit, for any civil action brought under federal or State law.
The bill provides that the participating officers are to be selected by the Attorney General from lists of volunteers who have been approved by their employing authority.
