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Dear Rose Cuison-Villazor,

Thank you for registering with the Jersey City OPRA Center. Below you will
find your login and password information. Please log in to the [2]Open
Public Records Center to update any contact or password information and to
track the progress of your requests.

Please note that, due to the active state of emergency in relation to
COVID-19, the City of Jersey City will not be able to respond to OPRA
requests within seven (7) business days. The City appreciates your
patience during this difficult time.
Login: [OPRA #17398 email]
 
Password:  [3]Update Password
 
If you are a first time user and did not submit your request through the
open public records portal but are receiving this e-mail, an account has
been created for you where you can access, track and receive any documents
in response to your request.
 
Thank You,
 
Custodian of Records
Jersey City, NJ
 
 
 
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Dear Rose Cuison-Villazor:

Thank you for your interest in open public records of Jersey City OPRA
Center.  This will serve to acknowledge receipt of your Open Public
Records Act (OPRA) request.  Your request was received in this office on
10/15/2020.  Kindly refer to the reference number R002930-101520 when
communicating with our office in this regard.  Your request mentioned:

S.I. Newhouse Center for Law and Justice Rutgers, The State University
of New Jersey 123 Washington Street Newark, New Jersey 07102-3094 p.
973-353-3159 October 13, 2020 Municipal Clerk for Municipal Police RE:
Open Public Records Act and Common Law Request Regarding
Implementation of the New Jersey Attorney General Immigrant Trust
Directive 2018-6 Dear Records Custodian, Pursuant to the New Jersey
Open Public Records Act (OPRA – N.J.S.A.47:1A-1, et seq.) and common
law right of access, we write seeking to obtain records related to how
your department (herein referred to as “the Department”) has
implemented the New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal’s Immigrant
Trust Directive 2018-6 and how this agency works with federal
immigration enforcement officials. We ask that you please direct this
request to all appropriate offices, departments, and records
custodians within the Department that may supply any of the records
sought through this request. A. Our Common Law Interest The Immigrant
Trust Directive intends to curtail state and local participation in
federal immigration enforcement, ensure effective policing, and foster
relationships between law enforcement agencies and immigrant
communities. As part of a scholarly research project, we, the
requestors, seek these documents in order to assess the degree to
which the Department is committed to implementing the directive and is
in compliance with public records request laws. We the requesters are
Dean Rose Cuison-Villazor and Dr. Peter Mancina. Dean Cuison-Villazor
is Vice Dean, Professor of Law, and Chancellor’s Social Justice
Scholar of the Rutgers Law School and Director of the Center for
Immigration Law, Policy, and Justice. She has written and published
extensively about non-cooperation policies or “sanctuary” policies,
which have been published in the Columbia Law Review, Minnesota Law
Review, Washington University Law Review, and UC Davis Law Review.
Dean Cuison-Villazor is also Director of the Center for Immigration
Law, Policy and Justice (CILPJ), which engages in interdisciplinary
scholarship, research, and advocacy focused on exploring more
inclusive immigration and citizenship laws. Dr. Peter Mancina is
Visiting Scholar in the Center for Immigration Law, Policy, and
Justice at Rutgers Law School, Researcher in the Department of Social
Anthropology at Stockholm University, and Research Associate in the
University of Oxford Centre for Criminology and Border Criminologies
Program. Dr. Mancina has examined the historical development of
sanctuary policy in the United States and police compliance with
“sanctuary” laws at the local, county, and state levels. He is author
of the 2019 policy implementation report Turning the Golden State into
a Sanctuary State: A Report on the Impact and Implementation of the
California Values Act (SB54). We greatly appreciate your assistance in
providing us the following documents. B. Requested Records I.
Policies, Regulations, Memorandum, Guidance, and Forms 1. All records
of policies, regulations, memorandum, guidance, or forms that the
Department has adopted related to the implementation of the New Jersey
Attorney General Gurbir Grewal’s Immigrant Trust Directive 2018-6
version 1 (issued on November 29, 2018) and version 2 (issued on March
15, 2019) , herein both versions referred to collectively as the
“Directive.” Date Range: November 29, 2018 to the present. 2. All
records of policies, procedures, protocols, directives, general orders
that the Department has adopted regarding providing any form of
assistance to, undertaking joint operations with, or forming joint
task forces with the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), U.S.
Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”), or Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (“ICE” (including ICE Homeland Security Investigations
(“HSI”)). Examples of such policies may pertain to how the Department
a. books or releases federal criminal or immigration detainees;
transfers individuals into federal custody; b. provides DHS, CBP, ICE,
and HSI access to department facilities, Department computers,
information technology networks, department databases; c. provides
immigration agencies use of Department offices, desk space, or space
where they can carry out their federal work; d. responds to federal
requests for a notification of an inmate’s release date, time, and
place, as well as any personally identifying information for the
individual; e. detains individuals for the purpose of enforcing
immigration law; f. acts upon DHS, CBP, ICE, and HSI administrative
warrants; g. responds to federal immigration agency requests to
interview people in Department custody and provides access to these
individuals to carry out an interview; h. provides backup assistance
including but not limited to traffic control and perimeter security in
the event of an immigration enforcement action or emergency situation;
i. provides booking rosters, intake rosters, or lists of detainees in
Department detention facilities; j. asks members of the public,
witnesses, suspects, or those who have been arrested about immigration
status information; k. patrols U.S. national borders; l. processes
requests for T- and U-visa certifications; or m. submits Immigrant
Alien Queries (IAQs) to the ICE Law Enforcement Support Center
(“ICE-LESC”) and acts upon Immigrant Alien Responses (IARs) from the
ICE-LESC as part of the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program
(SCAAP) Date Range: November 29, 2018 to the present. II. Agreements,
Contracts, or Memorandum of Understanding 3. All agreements,
contracts, or Memorandum of Understanding, including any addendum or
renewal document between DHS, ICE, ICE-HSI, or CBP and the Department.
Date Range: November 29, 2018 to the present III. Training Records 4.
All records that the Department has used to train its members about
the Directive, including training materials, manuals, memorandums, and
power point presentations. Date range: November 29, 2018 to the
present 5. Any training logs records that the Department has created
to track the completion of training of its employees in the Directive
or Directive-related Department policies. Date range: November 29,
2018 to the present IV. Incident Reports 6. All incident reports
related to the Department providing any form of assistance to CBP or
ICE, (including HSI) as described in request number 2, participation
in joint task forces, a 287g program, or any other form of joint
operation with CBP, or ICE (including HSI). Date Range: November 29,
2018 to the present 7. All incident reports related to incidents when
CBP or ICE, (including HSI) arrested an individual on Department
property immediately after they were released from Department custody
to the public. Date Range: November 29, 2018 to the present V.
Quantitative Data Reports Regarding Department Assistance to ICE and
CBP 8. All records (including electronically stored information in a
database, written reports, statistics, memoranda or other data) that
provide the number of instances when the Department accommodated an
ICE or CBP request for the Department to a. detain an individual b.
transfer an individual to ICE or CBP custody c. notify ICE or CBP of
the person’s release from Department custody d. provide backup
assistance for an immigration enforcement action e. provide backup
assistance for an emergency situation f. allow ICE or CBP to interview
an individual in Department custody g. participate in a joint
operation with ICE or CBP; or h. any other form of assistance to ICE
or CBP Date Range: November 29, 2017 to the present 9. All reports,
emails, and memorandum that explain the reason, purpose, policy basis,
or goal for which the Department accommodated ICE or CBP requests for
assistance outlined in request number 8. Date Range: November 29, 2017
to the present 10. All records (including electronically stored
information in a database, written reports, statistics, memoranda or
other data), arrest reports, CAD reports or similar records) that list
a. the number of individuals arrested during joint operations with
DHS, ICE, or CBP; b. the criminal charges brought against each
individual that was arrested during joint operations with DHS, ICE, or
CBP; or c. the number of individuals charged with civil immigration
violations during joint operations with DHS, ICE, or CBP. Date Range:
November 29, 2017 to the present 11. All records (including
electronically stored information in a database, written reports,
statistics, memoranda or other data), that list the number of people
that the Department released to the public and who were immediately
arrested by ICE or CBP on Department property. Date Range: November
29, 2017 to the present VI. Detainee Movement Logs 12. All records
that include the “movement history” logs of individuals in Department
custody for whom an I-247 detainer, notification request, or transfer
request was lodged. This may include records logging how individuals
are moved through different Department divisions, wings, areas,
programs, or Department facilities (ie. Booking, housing). Date Range:
November 29, 2017 to the present VII. Communications Records 13. All
communications (herein, “communications” refers to emails, texts,
faxes, letters, social media posts) about implementing the Directive
in the Department, how the Department interacts with or assists ICE
and CBP, or making inmate release information available to the public
between Department Command Staff or Supervising Staff and the
following types of Department employees: a. Those who contribute to
the development of department policy; b. Those who directly interact
with the public; c. Those who directly interact with people in
Department custody; and d. Those who directly interact with federal
immigration agencies Date Range: November, 29, 2018 to the present 14.
All communications about implementing the Directive in the Department,
how the Department interacts with ICE and CBP, or making inmate
release information available to the public between Department
Personnel and individuals in the following external agencies: a. ICE;
b. CBP; c. The U.S. Department of Justice; d. The White House; e. The
New Jersey Department of Justice; f. The Sheriffs Association of New
Jersey; or g. The New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police
Date Range: November, 29, 2018 to the present We request that all
responsive records be sent as electronic files via email to [email
address]. If the Department cannot provide responsive documents to
certain requests above, please indicate the number of the request and
the reason for the denial. As N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(i) provides that public
agencies respond to OPRA records requests within 7 days, I look
forward to hearing from you within this time. Thank you in advance and
we look forward to your response. Sincerely, Dean Rose Cuison-Villazor
Vice Dean, Professor of Law and Chancellor’s Social Justice Scholar
Director, Center for Immigration Law, Policy and Justice Rutgers Law
School 123 Washington Street Newark, NJ 07102 Phone number: (973)
353-3159 Email: [email address] Dr. Peter Mancina Visiting Scholar,
Center for Immigration Law, Policy and Justice Rutgers Law School 123
Washington Street Newark, NJ 07102 Phone number: (415)-226-8714 Email:
[email address] FN 1 . The term “records” as used herein means records
as broadly defined by N.J.S.A.47:1A-1.1 and includes, “any paper,
written or printed book, document, drawing, map, plan, photograph,
microfilm, data processed or image processed document, information
stored or maintained electronically or by sound-recording or in a
similar device, or any copy thereof, that has been made, maintained or
kept on file in the course of his or its official business by any
officer, commission, agency or authority of the State or of any
political subdivision thereof, including subordinate boards thereof,
or that has been received in the course of his or its official
business by any such officer, commission, agency, or authority of the
State or of any political subdivision thereof, including subordinate
boards thereof. The terms shall not include inter-agency or
intra-agency advisory, consultative, or deliberative material.”
“Records” that we are interested in obtaining are those that not only
are stored in government office locations, on government servers, or
on government computers and devices but also in private locations and
storage facilities, on private servers, on private computers and
devices, in private email accounts, and in public and private social
media accounts. FN 2. Version 1:
https://web.archive.org/web/201905020003... FN 3. Version 2:
https://www.nj.gov/oag/dcj/agguide/direc... Yours faithfully, Rose
Cuison-Villazor

Your request will be forwarded to the relevant City department(s) to
locate the information you seek and to determine the volume and any costs
associated with satisfying your request. You will be contacted about the
availability and/or provided with copies of the records in question.
 PLEASE NOTE: The State Public Information Act does not require a
governmental body to create new information, to do legal research, or to
answer questions.

Reference is made to your OPRA request captioned above. Please note that,
due to the state of emergency in relation to COVID-19, the City of Jersey
City will not be able to respond to OPRA requests within seven (7)
business days. Therefore, an additional thirty (30) days are needed for
the processing of your request. The City appreciates your patience during
this difficult time.

You can track and monitor the progress of your request at the link below
and you'll receive an email when your request has been completed. Again,
thank you for using the Jersey City OPRA Center.

Jersey City, NJ

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

To monitor the progress or update this request please log into
the [1]Jersey City OPRA Center.

References

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RE: OPEN PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST of October 15, 2020, Reference #
R002930-101520

Rose Cuison-Villazor:

The City received a public information request from you on October 15,
2020. Your request mentioned:

S.I. Newhouse Center for Law and Justice Rutgers, The State University
of New Jersey
123 Washington Street
Newark, New Jersey 07102-3094
p. 973-353-3159

October 13, 2020

Municipal Clerk for Municipal Police

RE: Open Public Records Act and Common Law Request Regarding
Implementation of the New Jersey Attorney General Immigrant Trust
Directive 2018-6

Dear Records Custodian,

Pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA –
N.J.S.A.47:1A-1, et seq.) and common law right of access, we write
seeking to obtain records related to how your department (herein
referred to as “the Department”) has implemented the New Jersey
Attorney General Gurbir Grewal’s Immigrant Trust Directive 2018-6 and
how this agency works with federal immigration enforcement officials.
We ask that you please direct this request to all appropriate offices,
departments, and records custodians within the Department that may
supply any of the records sought through this request.

A. Our Common Law Interest

The Immigrant Trust Directive intends to curtail state and local
participation in federal immigration enforcement, ensure effective
policing, and foster relationships between law enforcement agencies
and immigrant communities. As part of a scholarly research project,
we, the requestors, seek these documents in order to assess the degree
to which the Department is committed to implementing the directive and
is in compliance with public records request laws.

We the requesters are Dean Rose Cuison-Villazor and Dr. Peter Mancina.
Dean Cuison-Villazor is Vice Dean, Professor of Law, and Chancellor’s
Social Justice Scholar of the Rutgers Law School and Director of the
Center for Immigration Law, Policy, and Justice. She has written and
published extensively about non-cooperation policies or “sanctuary”
policies, which have been published in the Columbia Law Review,
Minnesota Law Review, Washington University Law Review, and UC Davis
Law Review. Dean Cuison-Villazor is also Director of the Center for
Immigration Law, Policy and Justice (CILPJ), which engages in
interdisciplinary scholarship, research, and advocacy focused on
exploring more inclusive immigration and citizenship laws.
Dr. Peter Mancina is Visiting Scholar in the Center for Immigration
Law, Policy, and Justice at Rutgers Law School, Researcher in the
Department of Social Anthropology at Stockholm University, and
Research Associate in the University of Oxford Centre for Criminology
and Border Criminologies Program. Dr. Mancina has examined the
historical development of sanctuary policy in the United States and
police compliance with “sanctuary” laws at the local, county, and
state levels. He is author of the 2019 policy implementation report
Turning the Golden State into a Sanctuary State: A Report on the
Impact and Implementation of the California Values Act (SB54).

We greatly appreciate your assistance in providing us the following
documents.

B. Requested Records

I. Policies, Regulations, Memorandum, Guidance, and Forms

1. All records of policies, regulations, memorandum, guidance, or
forms that the Department has adopted related to the implementation of
the New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal’s Immigrant Trust
Directive 2018-6 version 1 (issued on November 29, 2018) and version 2
(issued on March 15, 2019) , herein both versions referred to
collectively as the “Directive.” Date Range: November 29, 2018 to the
present.

2. All records of policies, procedures, protocols, directives, general
orders that the Department has adopted regarding providing any form of
assistance to, undertaking joint operations with, or forming joint
task forces with the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), U.S.
Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”), or Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (“ICE” (including ICE Homeland Security Investigations
(“HSI”)).
Examples of such policies may pertain to how the Department a. books
or releases federal criminal or immigration detainees; transfers
individuals into federal custody; b. provides DHS, CBP, ICE, and HSI
access to department facilities, Department computers, information
technology networks, department databases; c. provides immigration
agencies use of Department offices, desk space, or space where they
can carry out their federal work; d. responds to federal requests for
a notification of an inmate’s release date, time, and place, as well
as any personally identifying information for the individual; e.
detains individuals for the purpose of enforcing immigration law; f.
acts upon DHS, CBP, ICE, and HSI administrative warrants; g. responds
to federal immigration agency requests to interview people in
Department custody and provides access to these individuals to carry
out an interview; h. provides backup assistance including but not
limited to traffic control and perimeter security in the event of an
immigration enforcement action or emergency situation; i. provides
booking rosters, intake rosters, or lists of detainees in Department
detention facilities; j. asks members of the public, witnesses,
suspects, or those who have been arrested about immigration status
information; k. patrols U.S. national borders; l. processes requests
for T- and U-visa certifications; or m. submits Immigrant Alien
Queries (IAQs) to the ICE Law Enforcement Support Center (“ICE-LESC”)
and acts upon Immigrant Alien Responses (IARs) from the ICE-LESC as
part of the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) Date
Range: November 29, 2018 to the present.

II. Agreements, Contracts, or Memorandum of Understanding

3. All agreements, contracts, or Memorandum of Understanding,
including any addendum or renewal document between DHS, ICE, ICE-HSI,
or CBP and the Department. Date Range: November 29, 2018 to the
present

III. Training Records

4. All records that the Department has used to train its members about
the Directive, including training materials, manuals, memorandums, and
power point presentations. Date range: November 29, 2018 to the
present

5. Any training logs records that the Department has created to track
the completion of training of its employees in the Directive or
Directive-related Department policies. Date range: November 29, 2018
to the present

IV. Incident Reports

6. All incident reports related to the Department providing any form
of assistance to CBP or ICE, (including HSI) as described in request
number 2, participation in joint task forces, a 287g program, or any
other form of joint operation with CBP, or ICE (including HSI).
Date Range: November 29, 2018 to the present

7. All incident reports related to incidents when CBP or ICE,
(including HSI) arrested an individual on Department property
immediately after they were released from Department custody to the
public. Date Range: November 29, 2018 to the present

V. Quantitative Data Reports Regarding Department Assistance to ICE
and CBP

8. All records (including electronically stored information in a
database, written reports, statistics, memoranda or other data) that
provide the number of instances when the Department accommodated an
ICE or CBP request for the Department to a. detain an individual b.
transfer an individual to ICE or CBP custody c. notify ICE or CBP of
the person’s release from Department custody d. provide backup
assistance for an immigration enforcement action e. provide backup
assistance for an emergency situation f. allow ICE or CBP to interview
an individual in Department custody g. participate in a joint
operation with ICE or CBP; or h. any other form of assistance to ICE
or CBP Date Range: November 29, 2017 to the present

9. All reports, emails, and memorandum that explain the reason,
purpose, policy basis, or goal for which the Department accommodated
ICE or CBP requests for assistance outlined in request number 8. Date
Range: November 29, 2017 to the present

10. All records (including electronically stored information in a
database, written reports, statistics, memoranda or other data),
arrest reports, CAD reports or similar records) that list a. the
number of individuals arrested during joint operations with DHS, ICE,
or CBP; b. the criminal charges brought against each individual that
was arrested during joint operations with DHS, ICE, or CBP; or c. the
number of individuals charged with civil immigration violations during
joint operations with DHS, ICE, or CBP.
Date Range: November 29, 2017 to the present

11. All records (including electronically stored information in a
database, written reports, statistics, memoranda or other data), that
list the number of people that the Department released to the public
and who were immediately arrested by ICE or CBP on Department
property. Date Range: November 29, 2017 to the present

VI. Detainee Movement Logs

12. All records that include the “movement history” logs of
individuals in Department custody for whom an I-247 detainer,
notification request, or transfer request was lodged. This may include
records logging how individuals are moved through different Department
divisions, wings, areas, programs, or Department facilities (ie.
Booking, housing). Date Range: November 29, 2017 to the present

VII. Communications Records

13. All communications (herein, “communications” refers to emails,
texts, faxes, letters, social media posts) about implementing the
Directive in the Department, how the Department interacts with or
assists ICE and CBP, or making inmate release information available to
the public between Department Command Staff or Supervising Staff and
the following types of Department employees:
a. Those who contribute to the development of department policy; b.
Those who directly interact with the public; c. Those who directly
interact with people in Department custody; and d. Those who directly
interact with federal immigration agencies Date Range: November, 29,
2018 to the present

14. All communications about implementing the Directive in the
Department, how the Department interacts with ICE and CBP, or making
inmate release information available to the public between Department
Personnel and individuals in the following external agencies:
a. ICE;
b. CBP;
c. The U.S. Department of Justice;
d. The White House;
e. The New Jersey Department of Justice; f. The Sheriffs Association
of New Jersey; or g. The New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of
Police Date Range: November, 29, 2018 to the present We request that
all responsive records be sent as electronic files via email to [email
address]. If the Department cannot provide responsive documents to
certain requests above, please indicate the number of the request and
the reason for the denial.
As N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(i) provides that public agencies respond to OPRA
records requests within 7 days, I look forward to hearing from you
within this time.
Thank you in advance and we look forward to your response. Sincerely,

Dean Rose Cuison-Villazor
Vice Dean, Professor of Law and Chancellor’s Social Justice Scholar
Director, Center for Immigration Law, Policy and Justice Rutgers Law
School
123 Washington Street
Newark, NJ 07102
Phone number: (973) 353-3159
Email: [email address]

Dr. Peter Mancina
Visiting Scholar, Center for Immigration Law, Policy and Justice
Rutgers Law School
123 Washington Street
Newark, NJ 07102
Phone number: (415)-226-8714
Email: [email address]

FN 1 . The term “records” as used herein means records as broadly
defined by N.J.S.A.47:1A-1.1 and includes, “any paper, written or
printed book, document, drawing, map, plan, photograph, microfilm,
data processed or image processed document, information stored or
maintained electronically or by sound-recording or in a similar
device, or any copy thereof, that has been made, maintained or kept on
file in the course of his or its official business by any officer,
commission, agency or authority of the State or of any political
subdivision thereof, including subordinate boards thereof, or that has
been received in the course of his or its official business by any
such officer, commission, agency, or authority of the State or of any
political subdivision thereof, including subordinate boards thereof.
The terms shall not include inter-agency or intra-agency advisory,
consultative, or deliberative material.” “Records” that we are
interested in obtaining are those that not only are stored in
government office locations, on government servers, or on government
computers and devices but also in private locations and storage
facilities, on private servers, on private computers and devices, in
private email accounts, and in public and private social media
accounts.

FN 2. Version 1: https://web.archive.org/web/201905020003...

FN 3. Version 2: https://www.nj.gov/oag/dcj/agguide/direc...

Yours faithfully,

Rose Cuison-Villazor

Reference is made to your OPRA request captioned above. Please note that,
due to the state of emergency in relation to COVID-19, an additional
thirty (30) days are needed for the processing of your request. The City
appreciates your patience during this difficult time.

Sincerely,

Amanda Bransky

RMC, CMR

Office of City Clerk

 
 
 
 
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the [2]Jersey City OPRA Center. logo

References

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RE: OPEN PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST of October 15, 2020, Reference #
R002930-101520

Dear Rose Cuison-Villazor,

The City received a public information request from you on October 15,
2020 which was catalogued with the above referenced number.  

 
The City has reviewed its files and has located responsive records to your
request. Please log in to the Jersey City OPRA Center at the following
link to retrieve the appropriate responsive documents.

[2]Open Public Records Act - R002930-101520

Per our discussion on your OPRA request on Dec. 9, 2020, the below are the
points we need to address in order  to proceed further. 

First, the City believes that your request, as currently written, is
invalid under OPRA because it is overly broad and, in some subparts, a
request for research or information.   The main cases pertaining to
overbreadth and improper requests for research/information under OPRA are
as follow:  Jersey Builders Ass’n v. New Jersey Council on Affordable
Housing, 390 N.J. Super. 166 (App. Div. 2007); MAG Entertainment, LLC v.
Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534 (App. Div.
2005);  Bent v. Stafford Twp.,  381 N.J. Super. 30 (App. Div. 2005)

Additionally, as a practical matter, Mayor Fulop issued a “Sanctuary City”
Executive Order, E.O.  # 2017-003. Due to the policies set forth therein
limiting and/or curtailing the City’s engagement with federal immigration,
substantial portions of the records you seek are highly unlikely to
exist.   The problem is that conducting an exhaustive search to locate or
definitively rule out all records within your desired parameters would be
a burdensome undertaking, especially in a municipality as large and
diffuse as ours.  It would require a significant cross-departmental effort
and substantial expenditure of public worker hours.  This would
substantially disrupt our agency operations pursuant to N.J.S.A.
47:1A-5(g).

Under the circumstances, the City would like to come to a cooperative
resolution that assists you with your project without presenting a
significant detriment of our residents and taxpayers.   We propose, as a
general framework, the following:

• The City will make reasonable inquiry with our Public Safety
Department to verify which portions of your request seek records that
are unlikely to be kept because the activities would be contrary to
existing policy.  After reasonable inquiry, those portions of your
request will be identified to you.
• The City will identify which of the remaining portions/subparts of
your request are overly broad and briefly summarize why each is overly
broad.   You would then need to narrow these portions of your request
to specific identifiable documents.  We suggest that documents
received from other municipalities might be useful to facilitate
identifying specific records in some cases.  
• Once these steps are completed, the City will evaluate any remaining
items seeking specific identifiable records.   To the extent to which
processing remaining items would exceed 15 total worker/hours to
complete, the City would provide a good faith estimate of anticipated
processing time.  If you wish to have the records, a special service
charge equivalent to the rate of service charges provided under
N.J.S.A.  47:1A-5(c) would be assessed.  Processing would be managed
in batches taking not more than 5 employee/hours per week. 

Please confirm that this approach would be acceptable to you, so that we
may proceed.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Jacobsen
Assistant Corporation Counsel
City of Jersey City - Law Department 
 

 
 
 
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the [3]Jersey City OPRA Center. logo

References

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RE: OPEN PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST of October 15, 2020, Reference #
R002930-101520

Rose Cuison-Villazor:

The City received a public information request from you on October 15,
2020. Your request mentioned:

S.I. Newhouse Center for Law and Justice Rutgers, The State University
of New Jersey
123 Washington Street
Newark, New Jersey 07102-3094
p. 973-353-3159

October 13, 2020

Municipal Clerk for Municipal Police

RE: Open Public Records Act and Common Law Request Regarding
Implementation of the New Jersey Attorney General Immigrant Trust
Directive 2018-6

Dear Records Custodian,

Pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA –
N.J.S.A.47:1A-1, et seq.) and common law right of access, we write
seeking to obtain records related to how your department (herein
referred to as “the Department”) has implemented the New Jersey
Attorney General Gurbir Grewal’s Immigrant Trust Directive 2018-6 and
how this agency works with federal immigration enforcement officials.
We ask that you please direct this request to all appropriate offices,
departments, and records custodians within the Department that may
supply any of the records sought through this request.

A. Our Common Law Interest

The Immigrant Trust Directive intends to curtail state and local
participation in federal immigration enforcement, ensure effective
policing, and foster relationships between law enforcement agencies
and immigrant communities. As part of a scholarly research project,
we, the requestors, seek these documents in order to assess the degree
to which the Department is committed to implementing the directive and
is in compliance with public records request laws.

We the requesters are Dean Rose Cuison-Villazor and Dr. Peter Mancina.
Dean Cuison-Villazor is Vice Dean, Professor of Law, and Chancellor’s
Social Justice Scholar of the Rutgers Law School and Director of the
Center for Immigration Law, Policy, and Justice. She has written and
published extensively about non-cooperation policies or “sanctuary”
policies, which have been published in the Columbia Law Review,
Minnesota Law Review, Washington University Law Review, and UC Davis
Law Review. Dean Cuison-Villazor is also Director of the Center for
Immigration Law, Policy and Justice (CILPJ), which engages in
interdisciplinary scholarship, research, and advocacy focused on
exploring more inclusive immigration and citizenship laws.
Dr. Peter Mancina is Visiting Scholar in the Center for Immigration
Law, Policy, and Justice at Rutgers Law School, Researcher in the
Department of Social Anthropology at Stockholm University, and
Research Associate in the University of Oxford Centre for Criminology
and Border Criminologies Program. Dr. Mancina has examined the
historical development of sanctuary policy in the United States and
police compliance with “sanctuary” laws at the local, county, and
state levels. He is author of the 2019 policy implementation report
Turning the Golden State into a Sanctuary State: A Report on the
Impact and Implementation of the California Values Act (SB54).

We greatly appreciate your assistance in providing us the following
documents.

B. Requested Records

I. Policies, Regulations, Memorandum, Guidance, and Forms

1. All records of policies, regulations, memorandum, guidance, or
forms that the Department has adopted related to the implementation of
the New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal’s Immigrant Trust
Directive 2018-6 version 1 (issued on November 29, 2018) and version 2
(issued on March 15, 2019) , herein both versions referred to
collectively as the “Directive.” Date Range: November 29, 2018 to the
present.

2. All records of policies, procedures, protocols, directives, general
orders that the Department has adopted regarding providing any form of
assistance to, undertaking joint operations with, or forming joint
task forces with the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”), U.S.
Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”), or Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (“ICE” (including ICE Homeland Security Investigations
(“HSI”)).
Examples of such policies may pertain to how the Department a. books
or releases federal criminal or immigration detainees; transfers
individuals into federal custody; b. provides DHS, CBP, ICE, and HSI
access to department facilities, Department computers, information
technology networks, department databases; c. provides immigration
agencies use of Department offices, desk space, or space where they
can carry out their federal work; d. responds to federal requests for
a notification of an inmate’s release date, time, and place, as well
as any personally identifying information for the individual; e.
detains individuals for the purpose of enforcing immigration law; f.
acts upon DHS, CBP, ICE, and HSI administrative warrants; g. responds
to federal immigration agency requests to interview people in
Department custody and provides access to these individuals to carry
out an interview; h. provides backup assistance including but not
limited to traffic control and perimeter security in the event of an
immigration enforcement action or emergency situation; i. provides
booking rosters, intake rosters, or lists of detainees in Department
detention facilities; j. asks members of the public, witnesses,
suspects, or those who have been arrested about immigration status
information; k. patrols U.S. national borders; l. processes requests
for T- and U-visa certifications; or m. submits Immigrant Alien
Queries (IAQs) to the ICE Law Enforcement Support Center (“ICE-LESC”)
and acts upon Immigrant Alien Responses (IARs) from the ICE-LESC as
part of the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) Date
Range: November 29, 2018 to the present.

II. Agreements, Contracts, or Memorandum of Understanding

3. All agreements, contracts, or Memorandum of Understanding,
including any addendum or renewal document between DHS, ICE, ICE-HSI,
or CBP and the Department. Date Range: November 29, 2018 to the
present

III. Training Records

4. All records that the Department has used to train its members about
the Directive, including training materials, manuals, memorandums, and
power point presentations. Date range: November 29, 2018 to the
present

5. Any training logs records that the Department has created to track
the completion of training of its employees in the Directive or
Directive-related Department policies. Date range: November 29, 2018
to the present

IV. Incident Reports

6. All incident reports related to the Department providing any form
of assistance to CBP or ICE, (including HSI) as described in request
number 2, participation in joint task forces, a 287g program, or any
other form of joint operation with CBP, or ICE (including HSI).
Date Range: November 29, 2018 to the present

7. All incident reports related to incidents when CBP or ICE,
(including HSI) arrested an individual on Department property
immediately after they were released from Department custody to the
public. Date Range: November 29, 2018 to the present

V. Quantitative Data Reports Regarding Department Assistance to ICE
and CBP

8. All records (including electronically stored information in a
database, written reports, statistics, memoranda or other data) that
provide the number of instances when the Department accommodated an
ICE or CBP request for the Department to a. detain an individual b.
transfer an individual to ICE or CBP custody c. notify ICE or CBP of
the person’s release from Department custody d. provide backup
assistance for an immigration enforcement action e. provide backup
assistance for an emergency situation f. allow ICE or CBP to interview
an individual in Department custody g. participate in a joint
operation with ICE or CBP; or h. any other form of assistance to ICE
or CBP Date Range: November 29, 2017 to the present

9. All reports, emails, and memorandum that explain the reason,
purpose, policy basis, or goal for which the Department accommodated
ICE or CBP requests for assistance outlined in request number 8. Date
Range: November 29, 2017 to the present

10. All records (including electronically stored information in a
database, written reports, statistics, memoranda or other data),
arrest reports, CAD reports or similar records) that list a. the
number of individuals arrested during joint operations with DHS, ICE,
or CBP; b. the criminal charges brought against each individual that
was arrested during joint operations with DHS, ICE, or CBP; or c. the
number of individuals charged with civil immigration violations during
joint operations with DHS, ICE, or CBP.
Date Range: November 29, 2017 to the present

11. All records (including electronically stored information in a
database, written reports, statistics, memoranda or other data), that
list the number of people that the Department released to the public
and who were immediately arrested by ICE or CBP on Department
property. Date Range: November 29, 2017 to the present

VI. Detainee Movement Logs

12. All records that include the “movement history” logs of
individuals in Department custody for whom an I-247 detainer,
notification request, or transfer request was lodged. This may include
records logging how individuals are moved through different Department
divisions, wings, areas, programs, or Department facilities (ie.
Booking, housing). Date Range: November 29, 2017 to the present

VII. Communications Records

13. All communications (herein, “communications” refers to emails,
texts, faxes, letters, social media posts) about implementing the
Directive in the Department, how the Department interacts with or
assists ICE and CBP, or making inmate release information available to
the public between Department Command Staff or Supervising Staff and
the following types of Department employees:
a. Those who contribute to the development of department policy; b.
Those who directly interact with the public; c. Those who directly
interact with people in Department custody; and d. Those who directly
interact with federal immigration agencies Date Range: November, 29,
2018 to the present

14. All communications about implementing the Directive in the
Department, how the Department interacts with ICE and CBP, or making
inmate release information available to the public between Department
Personnel and individuals in the following external agencies:
a. ICE;
b. CBP;
c. The U.S. Department of Justice;
d. The White House;
e. The New Jersey Department of Justice; f. The Sheriffs Association
of New Jersey; or g. The New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of
Police Date Range: November, 29, 2018 to the present We request that
all responsive records be sent as electronic files via email to [email
address]. If the Department cannot provide responsive documents to
certain requests above, please indicate the number of the request and
the reason for the denial.
As N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(i) provides that public agencies respond to OPRA
records requests within 7 days, I look forward to hearing from you
within this time.
Thank you in advance and we look forward to your response. Sincerely,

Dean Rose Cuison-Villazor
Vice Dean, Professor of Law and Chancellor’s Social Justice Scholar
Director, Center for Immigration Law, Policy and Justice Rutgers Law
School
123 Washington Street
Newark, NJ 07102
Phone number: (973) 353-3159
Email: [email address]

Dr. Peter Mancina
Visiting Scholar, Center for Immigration Law, Policy and Justice
Rutgers Law School
123 Washington Street
Newark, NJ 07102
Phone number: (415)-226-8714
Email: [email address]

FN 1 . The term “records” as used herein means records as broadly
defined by N.J.S.A.47:1A-1.1 and includes, “any paper, written or
printed book, document, drawing, map, plan, photograph, microfilm,
data processed or image processed document, information stored or
maintained electronically or by sound-recording or in a similar
device, or any copy thereof, that has been made, maintained or kept on
file in the course of his or its official business by any officer,
commission, agency or authority of the State or of any political
subdivision thereof, including subordinate boards thereof, or that has
been received in the course of his or its official business by any
such officer, commission, agency, or authority of the State or of any
political subdivision thereof, including subordinate boards thereof.
The terms shall not include inter-agency or intra-agency advisory,
consultative, or deliberative material.” “Records” that we are
interested in obtaining are those that not only are stored in
government office locations, on government servers, or on government
computers and devices but also in private locations and storage
facilities, on private servers, on private computers and devices, in
private email accounts, and in public and private social media
accounts.

FN 2. Version 1: https://web.archive.org/web/201905020003...

FN 3. Version 2: https://www.nj.gov/oag/dcj/agguide/direc...

Yours faithfully,

Rose Cuison-Villazor

Reference is made to your OPRA request captioned above. Please note that,
due to the state of emergency in relation to COVID-19, an additional
thirty (30) days are needed for the processing of your request. The City
appreciates your patience during this difficult time.

Sincerely,

Amanda Bransky

RMC, CMR

Office of City Clerk

 
 
 
 
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RE: OPEN PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST of October 15, 2020, Reference #
R002930-101520

Dear Ms. Cuison-Villazor:

We received your January 8, 2021 e-mail requesting that records be sent.  
Please confirm that you received my December 14, 2021 response indicating
that your request was substantially disruptive as worded and
proposing what the City believes to be a reasonable solution.   I'm asking
for this confirmation only because I had not received any answer accepting
or rejecting this solution in the intervening weeks.
If you did receive my communication, please also confirm for clarity that,
by your January 8 e-mail, you are agreeing to the City's proposed approach
set forth on December 14, 2020 to resolve the request.  If so, we can
commence that process . 

Sincerely,

Jeremy Jacobsen

Assistant Corporation Counsel
City of Jersey City
 
 
 
 
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RE: OPEN PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST of October 15, 2020, Reference #
R002930-101520

Dear Ms. Cuison-Villazor:

I am following up on my communication from last week. 
It has now been a month since our December 14, 2021 communication
proposing what the City believes to be a reasonable solution to a
disruptive request, but we have not received a response as to whether you
accept or reject the City's proposed solution.   As a practical matter, we
need this confirmation so that we know how to proceed. 
Accordingly, if we do not hear back from you with clarification by January
21, 2021, the City will be forced to conclude that you insist on
fulfillment of your request precisely as originally worded, thereby
rejecting our proposed solution.   We would proceed with that
understanding at that time unless we hear further from you.  
If your position is otherwise, please simply let us know, as that will be
very helpful in facilitating any work that may then be necessary on our
end.  

Sincerely,

Jeremy Jacobsen

Assistant Corporation Counsel
City of Jersey City
 
 
 
 
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Dear Ms. Cuison-Villazor:

This will be my final follow up on my recent communications.   
To date, the City has not received an answer as to whether our December
14, 2020 proposed solution to resolve this request, which we notified you
was substantially disruptive under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g), is acceptable to
you. 
As noted in our most recent communication, the City interprets requestor
silence as a rejection of the solution and insistence on the request as
originally worded.  
If the situation is otherwise (i.e. if you wish us to proceed as we laid
out in our Dec. 14, 2021 proposal), please reply ASAP to so indicat.  

Sincerely,

Jeremy Jacobsen

Assistant Corporation Counsel
City of Jersey City
 
 
 
 
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RE: OPEN PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST of October 15, 2020, Reference #
R002930-101520

Rose Cuison-Villazor:

I am writing with regard to your October 15, 2020 OPRA request catalogued
as R002930-101520. 
After our telephone discussion regarding your request, you were informed
-- by way of a December 14, 2020 e-mail --  that (as written) it was
substantially disruptive under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g).   That e-mail
contained a proposed reasonable solution, a series of steps by which the
City could work with you to accommodate a less disruptive records search
to accomplish the goals of your request.  To date, we have received no
indication of acceptance of this plan from you. 
In response to your January 8, 2021 follow up e-mail, simply asking that
records be sent, the City sent you two more emails, on January 8, 2021 and
January 14, 2021.  Both of  those e-mails both sought clarification from
you as to  whether or not you accept the City's proposed alternative
solution or whether you were insisting on the parameters of your original
request.  
We did not receive any further communication from you in response to those
two communications until your e-mail today, which again insists on
document but does not address whether or not you accept the
City's proposed solution.  Under the circumstances, as indicated in my
January 14, 2021 e-mail, the City's understanding is that you still seek
fulfillment of your original request as written and are thus rejecting our
proposed solution. 
Accordingly, as your original request was already identified as
substantially disruptive under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g) and as you have failed
to accept our proposed solutions after multiple communications, the
remainder of your request is now hereby denied in its entirety under
N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g).   
Your request will now be closed for the above reasons. 
Sincerely,

Jeremy Jacobsen

Assistant Corporation Counsel

City of Jersey City - Law Department
 
 
 
 
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