FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill faces an ethics complaint after she asked Garden State residents to report on Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the state government.
“In a seemingly unprecedented move, Governor Sherrill is using official state resources to coordinate the potential obstruction of federal immigration enforcement activities,” Curtis Schube, director of research and policy at the Center to Advance Security in America, told The Daily Signal in a statement on the complaint Tuesday. “Her administration created an official portal for members of the public to upload personal videos of ICE officials conducting their official duties.”
“This outrageous conduct is not in accordance with the rules of the New York Bar, nor is it appropriate for any legal professional or government official,” Schube added. “CASA is filing a bar complaint today and is hopeful that an investigation into this matter will be initiated immediately.”
CASA filed a complaint Tuesday with the Attorney Grievance Committee of the New York Supreme Court, which investigates potential breaches in the Rules of Professional Conduct. According to the New York State Unified Court System’s registration, Sherrill first registered in May 2009 with the number 4719522 and has no disciplinary history.
The Complaint
The complaint, exclusively obtained by The Daily Signal, cites portions of the Rules of Professional Conduct, which state that a lawyer may face discipline for “illegal conduct that adversely reflects on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer,” or for “conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.”
The letter cites 8 U.S.C. Section 1324, which imposes up to a 10-year prison sentence or a fine on anyone who “conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, or attempts to conceal, harbor, or shield from detection,” an alien who “has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of law.”
Sherrill went on “The Daily Show” in January, outlining her plan to launch a portal for Garden State residents to report ICE activity.
“If you see an ICE agent in the street, get your phone out,” she told the host and her audience. She announced that the state government would create a “portal” to allow people to “upload all their cellphone videos” to “alert people” to ICE’s presence.
“Sherrill has taken the first step toward concealing illegal aliens in New Jersey by calling for people to video any ICE activity and to alert the New Jersey government via web portal,” the complaint states. “Alerting people can be for no other reason than to allow undocumented immigrants time to clear out of their location. The effort can be interpreted in no other way than to prevent ICE from detaining immigrants who are the subject of their search.”
“This violates the explicit language of the federal criminal statute referenced above,” the complaint states. “It is ‘deceit[ful]’ to use the power of government to prevent the federal government from being able to perform their operations. Additionally, it is unbecoming of a lawyer to use her power under the law to undermine federal law.”
The ICE Reporting Portal
The portal, which Sherrill-appointed Attorney General Jennifer Davenport launched last month, urges citizens to “report misconduct by federal agents.”
The website presents a list of “concerning activity” including “uses of excessive force, warrantless searches or arrests, racial profiling, wrongful detentions, interference with voting, or other civil-rights violations.” The site claims that information submitted via the portal may be used as evidence in court, though it states that the attorney general may or may not take legal action based on the submissions.
The attorney general’s office states that it does not intend for the portal “to replace reporting emergencies or crimes in your area to local law enforcement.”
Department of Homeland Security’s Response
“Alerting people to ICE operations puts the lives of the men and women of law enforcement in danger as they go after terrorists, vicious gangs and violent criminal rings,” Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Lauren Bis told The Daily Signal in a statement Tuesday. “Our law officers are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults, a 3200% in vehicle attacks, and an 8000% increase in death threats.”
“Remember, New Jersey is the same state that allowed a criminal illegal alien onto American streets who killed a mother and 11-year-old daughter while drunk driving,” she added. “While Attorney General Jennifer Davenport continues to encourage agitators to obstruct law enforcement and releases pedophiles, rapists, gang members, and murderers onto New Jersey’s streets, our brave law enforcement will continue to risk their lives to arrest heinous criminals in New Jersey.”
Justice Department Weighs In
The Justice Department sued Sherrill last month, aiming to block her executive order directing state officials to block ICE raids on state property.
“The Department has a zero-tolerance policy for violence against law enforcement and will hold offenders accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” a Justice Department spokesperson told The Daily Signal in a statement Tuesday. “Any official promoting anti-police rhetoric, encouraging reckless behavior, or obstructing lawful immigration operations should think twice before inciting further violence and putting federal agents in harm’s way.”
Sherrill has labeled ICE a “Stasi-type force,” referring to the East German secret police force.
Opposition to ICE ratcheted up a notch after the Department of Homeland Security ordered a surge of immigration enforcement agents to Minneapolis. Anti-ICE agitators organized to monitor immigration enforcement, with some training to directly interfere with ICE operations.
In this context of heightened tensions, two activists died at the hands of ICE agents: Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Border czar Tom Homan then took charge of the efforts in Minneapolis and drew down federal forces.
The Daily Signal reached out to the offices of the governor and the attorney general for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
