The Princeton Borough council unanimously passed a resolution addressing immigration reform in the community Tuesday.
The resolution outlines the need for undocumented immigrants to feel comfortable contacting local police without fear of deportation and recognizes the Borough's commitment to restoring trust among residents, municipal government and the police department.
After the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested eight illegal immigrants living on Witherspoon Street last month, the Hispanic community and local activists have pushed the Borough to reform its relationship with immigrants, who provide a major source of inexpensive labor in the area.
The main problem cited by community members is the distrust between local police and the Hispanic community, which stems from the police's presence at the Oct. 13 raid.
"The resolution is an expression of the sentiment of the governing body of Princeton that the ICE raid was unhelpful to the public safety of the Princeton community," said Borough Councilman Roger Martindell, who was present at the Tuesday meeting during which the resolution was passed unanimously.
"What the ICE officers did was inappropriate, if not illegal," he added.
Members of the council and community said they see the resolution as a positive step toward alleviating tension.
Councilman David Goldfarb said he believes the resolution should bring hope to the Hispanic community.
"We are hoping that ICE will reexamine its policies," he said. "The raids were not constructive because the harm done far outweighs possible benefits."
Many local Hispanics and community members attended the meeting to support the resolution.
"We are very excited that these new doors are open for a solution," Raul Calvimontes, a local activist for immigration reform said.
Though the resolution indicates the Borough's dedication to addressing immigrant relation issues, it is only the first step toward more detailed policies.
Local immigration attorney Ryan Lilienthal said the future of the resolution remains unclear.
"It doesn't resolve the main issue of what should the police do and not do when asked for assistance by immigration officials," he said.
Lilienthal is drafting an ordinance, with the cooperation of the police department, that will more clearly define immigration policies for local police.
Borough Police Chief Charles Davall said he plans to draft a policy within the next three weeks and then discuss it with the local public safety committee.
"We definitely have a strong desire to work on distrust," Davall said. "We want a policy where the Latino community is not worried that we will deport or report them."
"We also, however, need to follow legal procedures and cannot turn our backs on our legal duties," he added.
Davall said he recognizes the community perception that ICE contacted local police to help in the raids, but he said enforcement officials only knew that ICE was coming.
"Our presence made us look like we were participating, but we weren't," he explained.
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