Defense of Local Laws Expensive

With Congress failing to develop a plan to deal with the 12 million undocumented immigrants in the country, many New Jersey municipalities have come up with their own laws to address the problem.

But the crackdown has failed in many places as towns realize they can’t afford to fight court challenges and political opposition.

In the late 1990s the Borough of Bound Brook agreed to pay victims $425,000, hire a bilingual housing coordinator, and to make dramatic changes to its housing and zoning practices after passing laws that focused on overcrowding in homes rented mostly by Hispanics. The U.S. Justice Department sued the town for illegally targeting Hispanics.

And in a settlement last month, Freehold Borough agreed to pay $278,000 to change its housing inspection procedures and allow laborers to gather on public property after trying to shut down a day laborer gathering area.

The fear of such sanctions has several towns backtracking. Click here.

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