Trenton City Council votes to prevent its police department from assisting ICE

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The Trenton City Council approved an ordinance Tuesday night that prevents the city’s police department from assisting federal immigration officers during civil enforcement. The measure, which passed 4-2, did not include a provision sought by immigration advocates that would’ve preempted the department from honoring immigration detainers.

Ana Paola Pazmiño, executive director of Resistencia en Accion NJ, was grateful for the dialogue with the council and the ordinance’s passage.

“It really shows that there’s power when you bring forth people and community,” she said. “When you bring forth needs that we’re seeing because laws can be written, but the idea is that we are experiencing different things on the ground and so we need to meet halfway.”

Mayor Reed Gusciora said he would review the bill before deciding whether to sign it.

Council members Teska Frisby and Crystal Feliciano voted against the ordinance. Both still took exception to some comments from the public at the last meeting.

“We deserve respect as human beings … we’re all people and children of God,” Feliciano said. “That doesn’t give anyone the right to come and disrespect where we are.”

Frisby said no one is allowed to come in to disrespect the council. She added that they were elected to serve the city of Trenton and that “outsiders should [not] be coming in and to write policy to rubber-stamp and put into act.”

“I believe that that is opening up a Pandora’s box,” she said.  “If we do it for one organization, what is to stop another organization and the one after that to come in and do the exact same thing.”

City Council President Jenna L. Figueroa Kettenburg read into the record an email that she sent to advocates expressing appreciation for the ideas they brought, asking that they recognize that any ideas that were not included in the ordinance were based on the council’s judgment on “what is appropriate, enforceable and sustainable for the city.”

“After extensive discussion and review, we believe the ordinance represents a meaningful step forward and appropriately balances the city’s responsibilities, legal obligations and policy objectives,” she read from her email.

The ordinance expands on a series of state laws addressing immigration, including the codification of the Immigrant Trust Directive, signed by Gov. Mikie Sherrill earlier this year. It specifies when Trenton police can assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers by distinguishing between judicial and administrative warrants.

Police will be prohibited from aiding in civil immigration enforcement, which stems from an administrative warrant issued by an immigration officer within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. City resources, including property, equipment and personnel, are also barred from use in civil enforcement actions.

The department will still cooperate with federal officials when enforcement action is initiated by a judicial warrant and participate in joint law enforcement operations not involving civil immigration enforcement.

The city council was on the verge of passing the proposed ordinance at their last meeting. Activists argued that Trenton police would still be allowed to honor immigration detainers, which are requests from federal officials for law enforcement to hold someone they have identified as “potentially deportable” for 48 hours.

While a majority of those who spoke at the June 4 council meeting urged the council to prevent police from honoring detainers, at least two council members were prepared to vote against the bill. Figueroa Kettenburg moved to table the proposal until Tuesday night’s meeting, after it was amended to address technical errors.

That allowed another opportunity for the public to comment on the measure. Most expressed appreciation of the council’s work and urged them to pass it. At least two people spoke in opposition, including Robin Vaughn, a former city councilmember who ran for mayor in 2022.

Vaughn took offense to some who commented about the importance of Black and Latino people working together, questioning where the voices were in supporting police accountability.

“You don’t get to come stand on our shoulders and demand the same rights that we have been fighting for hundreds of years in our own nation,” she said. “Go back to your own countries, build your nations, build your police departments.”

After the meeting, Paola Pazmiño said she was disappointed in Vaughn’s comments.

“I hope that she really does find peace so that she could really do good work for the community,” Paola Pazmiño said.