Open Public Records Act and Common Law Request Regarding Implementation of the New Jersey Attorney General Immigrant Trust Directive 2018-6
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
Dear North Bergen Township Records Custodian,
This email is to confirm that I have not yet received your records responsive to my request “Open Public Records Act and Common Law Request Regarding Implementation of the New Jersey Attorney General Immigrant Trust Directive 2018-6” and I ask that you please send them as soon as possible. Thank you.
Yours faithfully,
Rose Cuison-Villazor
Good Morning Ms. Cuison-Villazor,
My apologies in advance for the delay in the response to your request for records. Can you please at your earliest convenience forward me your original request so I can look into what occurred with your response?
Thank you,
Erin Barillas, RMC
Township Clerk
Dear Erin Barillas,
Please find below the original OPRA request. Thank you very much for attending to this.
Yours sincerely,
Rose Cuison-Villazor
---------------------------------------------------------------
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
Good Afternoon Ms. Cuison-Villazor,
The Township of North Bergen is in receipt of your request for records emailed to the Clerk's Office. Please be advised the Township will require additional time to respond to your request. We will provide the response by Friday, January 22, 2021.
If you should have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Thank you.
Erin Barillas, RMC
Township Clerk
Township of North Bergen
4233 Kennedy Boulevard
North Bergen, NJ 07047
[North Bergen Township request email]
201-392-2024 (phone)
201-330-7694 (fax)
Good Morning Ms. Cuison-Villazor,
Please be advised the Township of North Bergen requires additional time to respond to your request. We will respond on or before Friday, January 29, 2021.
Please let me know if you have any additional questions.
Thank you.
Erin Barillas, RMC
Township Clerk
Township of North Bergen
4233 Kennedy Boulevard
North Bergen, NJ 07047
[North Bergen Township request email]
201-392-2024 (phone)
201-330-7694 (fax)
Dear Dean Cuison-Villazor and Dr. Mancina:
The Township of North Bergen (“Township”) writes in response to your October 13, 2020 request, received on January 8, 2021, made pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A.. 47:1A-1 et seq. (“OPRA”) and the common law. As you may be aware, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(i) has been amended to reflect, during the COVID-19 pandemic, that the seven day deadline within which to respond to an OPRA request no longer applies.
Your request sought the following:
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.”
In response to this request, see Attachment No. 1, entitled “General Order: 19-02, Strengthening Trust Between Law Enforcement and Immigrant Communities, dated January 8, 2019.”
Your request also sought:
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.”
The Township has no government records responsive to this request.
Your request also sought:
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.”
The Township has no government records responsive to this request.
Your request also sought:
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.”
The Township has no government records responsive to this request. (Officers are trained online via NJLearn, through the State of New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness.)
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.”
The Township has “created” no government records responsive to this request. See Attachment #2, providing the record requested, created by NJLearn.
Your request also sought:
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.”
The Township objects to this request, as the request for “any form of assistance” is vague and susceptible to multiple interpretations. In order for a request to be valid under OPRA, the requestor must seek specific, identifiable records. Requests that would require a records custodian to formulate a search and read through all of a public entity’s incident reports to determine which such are responsive to any of the categories outlined by the Requestor are improper, and OPRA imposes no obligation on a public entity to respond to such requests. See MAG Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 549 (App. Div. 2005). Rather than deny your request on these grounds, the Township provides, in response to this request, Attachments # 3, 4 and 5, which include all incident reports for the relevant timeframe that contain the terms CBP, or ICE (including HSI).
The reports associated with the following Case Numbers are being produced subject to OPRA:
CAD #
18-049819AH
19-065371
19-075627
19-140416
20-031653
20-051519
20-076157D
20-079155
The reports associated with the following Case Numbers are exempt under OPRA (N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1 (criminal investigatory records)), but are being produced pursuant to the requestor’s common law request. Redactions have been made to protect the privacy interests of the involved parties (the majority of the records are related to domestic violence). Redactions have been after weighing the interests of the requestor, and no references to CBP, ICE or HSI were redacted:
19-029526
19-056216
19-106909
20-076157
20-079155
20-095308
20-100459
20-063970
20-079155
Your request also sought:
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.”
The Township has no records responsive to this request.
Your request also sought:
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.”
The Township maintains no government records compiling the number of instances in which the Township Police Department accommodated an ICE or CBP request. See Attachment #3 (CAD #17108208), which is the only record of a “joint operation” within the stated date range. See the Township’s response to OPRA Request No. 6 with respect to the response to section 8.h.
Your request also sought:
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.”
A request generally seeking “all” information related to a particular subject matter is not a proper OPRA request. In order for a request to be valid under OPRA, the requestor must seek specific, identifiable records. Requests that would require a records custodian to formulate a search and read through all of a public entity’s records in order to determine a document’s responsiveness are improper, and OPRA imposes no obligation on a public entity to respond to such requests. See MAG Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 549 (App. Div. 2005). Further, to the extent such records existed they would be exempt from production under OPRA pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1 (inter-agency or intra-agency advisory, consultative or deliberative material). Accordingly, your request is denied on those grounds.
Your request also sought:
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.”
In response to this request, see Attachment #3 - CAD #17108208.
Your request also sought:
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.”
The Township has no government records responsive to this request.
Your request also sought:
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.”
Your request is denied. In order for a request to be valid under OPRA, the requestor must seek specific, identifiable records. This request would require the records custodian to review the files of every individual who has been in the custody of the Township during the requested time frame to determine whether an I-247 detainer, notification request, or transfer request was lodged against him or her to be able to access the individual’s movement history. OPRA imposes no obligation on a public entity to perform such research. See MAG Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 549 (App. Div. 2005).
Your request also sought:
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.”
Your request is denied as an impermissible research assignment. In order for a request to be valid under OPRA, the requestor must seek specific, identifiable records. Requests that would require a records custodian to read a document and make a subjective determination as to whether a document is responsive are improper, and OPRA imposes no obligation on a public entity to respond to such requests. See MAG Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 868 (App. Div. 2005). The request is overbroad and vague because it fails to identify sufficiently specific content or subjects. Elcavage v. West Milford Twp., GRC Complaint No. 2009-07 (April 2010); Bent v. Stafford Police Dep’t, 381 N.J. Super. 30, 37 (App. Div. 2005); Bart v. Passaic County Public Hous. Agency, 406 N.J. Super. 445 (App. Div. 2009).
Your request finally sought:
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.”
A request generally seeking “all” communications related to a particular subject matter is not a proper OPRA request. In order for a request to be valid under OPRA, the requestor must seek specific, identifiable records. Requests that would require a records custodian to formulate a search and read through all of a public entity’s “communications” in order to determine a specific communication’s responsiveness are improper, and OPRA imposes no obligation on a public entity to respond to such requests. See MAG Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 549 (App. Div. 2005). Accordingly, your request is denied on those grounds.
As with any OPRA request, you have the right to challenge the decision by the Township. At your option, you may either institute a proceeding in the Superior Court of New Jersey or file a complaint with the Government records Council (“GRC”) by completing the Denial of Access Complaint Form. You may contact the GRC by toll-free telephone at 866-850-0511, by mail at PO Box 819, Trenton, NJ 08625, by e-mail at [email address], or at their web site at www.state.nj.us/grc. The Council can also answer other questions about the law. All questions regarding complaints filed in Superior Court should be directed to the Court Clerk in your County.
Erin Barillas, RMC
Township Clerk
Township of North Bergen
4233 Kennedy Boulevard
North Bergen, NJ 07047
[North Bergen Township request email]
201-392-2024 (phone)
201-330-7694 (fax)