Atlantic City will not allow the violence that has come from ICE activity elsewhere to spill onto local streets, public safety leaders stressed Wednesday.
A press conference brought together the mayor, public safety and leaders of the Hispanic community to discuss recent allegations that Atlantic City police are helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Let me make this crystal clear on the record,” Mayor Marty Small said. “The great city of Atlantic City supports the immigrant community. We support the multi-cultural community.
“As your mayor, this city has your back,” he said.
El Pueblo Unido de Atlantic City raised questions about city police involvement after an ICE worker appeared to take refuge in the Public Safety parking lot Monday, after the group tried to ask the woman questions.
"Why are ICE agents afraid of cameras?" a post the group made showing the video asked. "Why do they seek protection from local police? And why is ACPD protecting federal agents instead of respecting the community they are supposed to serve?"
El Pueblo Executive Director Cristian Moreno-Rodriguez, who spoke at the press conference, said he appreciated that the city was addressing their questions.
He added that “this did not begin or end in a parking lot. It’s a pattern of intimidation by a federal agency that operates in fear.”
Atlantic City Police Chief James Sarkos said that not only is it not the department’s job to assist ICE with the civil enforcement, police are barred under the Immigrant Trust Directive, which went into place in 2018.
“It means that when ICE is coming and doing civil removal, they’re doing it on their own and they’re not doing it under the guise of the Atlantic City Police Department or under the taxpayer dollars of the city of Atlantic City,” Public Safety Director Sean Riggin explained. “The downside of that is that we don’t coordinate with ICE, so we don’t know when they’re here. We don’t know what they’re doing. They don’t coordinate with us.”
So when the ICE agent came to police, the job of those officers was to hear that concern and make sure everyone was safe.
"Just because someone sees us with ICE does not mean we’re in immigration enforcement," Sarkos said.
The mayor said he knows that many people in the community live in fear of going to work, school or even coming into public spaces.
"This city stands behind you," he said.
“I don’t want anyone to ever feel fearful of calling the Atlantic City Police Department because of their immigration status,” Sarkos said.
But, the police chief added, if someone comes to police feeling in danger, it is the department’s job to assess the situation, whether the complainant is a resident, undocumented or a federal agent.
Former Atlantic City Prosecutor Jonathan Diego — a past president of the Hispanic Leadership Association of New Jersey — said he has confidence in those public safety leaders “to do what needs to be done. What is proper and appropriate.”
“We understand the dichotomy they sometimes find themselves in with wanting to protect the citizens of Atlantic City, but also if there is a call for assistance — whether from our community or from federal law enforcement — they are required to respond.”
Moreno-Rodriguez said that his group will not stop documenting what is going on with ICE, and insisted they do not use any form of violence.
“Our trained volunteers document, they observe, they report,” he said. “They do not interfere and they do not escalate. … We use cameras not weapons. We use accountability.”
Discussion still are ongoing whether the group will plan a protest, which they have stressed must be peaceful.
"The job of all law enforcement is to keep people safe," Riggin said. "These things need to be worked out in courts. We hope it doesn’t explode out on our streets.
"If we can maintain calm, we can continue to have conversations with all of our friends up here, and we'll get through this," he added. "The most important thing we take away from this is compassion for all of our residents and our entire community."
