N.J. Policy on Police Questioning of Immigration Status Violated

New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram said yesterday that a city police official acted improperly by asking about the immigration status of two journalists who witnessed a crime scene in September, violating a state directive on immigrants and law enforcement. The journalists, a freelance photographer and the editor of The Brazilian Voice newspaper, reported to the police that the photographer had found a woman’s body in a Newark alley. They were questioned about their immigration status by the official. The directive, introduced in August, tells the police to ask the immigration status only of those arrested on indictable offenses or for drunken driving. In a statement, Attorney General Anne Milgram, above, said the directive “specifically prohibits police from inquiring about the immigration status of any victim, witness or person requesting police assistance.”

Do you think it a coincidence that police questioned journalists from The Brazilian Voice  about their immigration status?

KJ