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New Jersey police aided U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement just four times last year, though county jails held hundreds of people on behalf of the agency, according to a report from state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal’s office. In 2019, Grewal established the Immigrant Trust Directive, which restricts police from sharing information with ICE and holding releasable prisoners for the agency. Grewal said police are “largely following both the letter and the spirit” of the rule. Meanwhile state corrections officials let ICE conduct 551 interviews last year and told ICE about upcoming inmate releases 779 times. Corrections officers held on to inmates 403 times. Most of these incidents happened in Essex County. nj.com
In other local immigration news…
Labor Department to Consider Lowering Farmworker Overtime Threshold
The New York Department of Labor announced three additional meetings of the Farm Laborer Wage Board to discuss lowering the overtime threshold after farmworkers. Currently, the cap is at 60 hours per week. Nearly all other employees are entitled to overtime after working 40 hours in a week. On average, dairy workers in New York State work 67 hours per week, according to a study from the Fiscal Policy Institute. Fruit and vegetable workers work 49 hours per week, according to the study. If the cap was lowered, it would allow those dairy workers to make an extra $187 per week if they’re paid a minimum overtime wage. The Citizen
NYC Calls on Congress to Extend Liberian Refugee Relief Program
New York City and Philadelphia, along with Baltimore; St. Paul, Minnesota; Minneapolis; and Providence, Rhode Island are urging Congress to extend the December 20, 2020, deadline for green card applications under the Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness program. The LRIF passed at the end of 2019 and provides a pathway to citizenship for some Liberians and their immediate families living in the U.S. since 2014. The cities are seeking a year extension to allow more eligible people to apply, as COVID-19 has made it difficult to pull an application together. Patch
Advocates Call on Cuomo to Sign Bill Banning ICE Arrests at Courthouses
New York lawmakers and advocates held a press conference this week to call on Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) to sign four pieces of legislation the state’s legislature passed in July, including the Protect Our Courts Act. Last month, Documented reported Cuomo has not signed the act that would stop ICE arrests at courthouses throughout the state, despite an intense push from lawyers and advocates. Courthouse arrests have surged dramatically through the four years of the Trump administration. Cuomo has also not signed the The Contact Tracing Confidentiality Act, which would prohibit ICE from having access to coronavirus contact tracing data. Spectrum Local News
