SUPREME COURT OF NEW JERSEY
RICHARD J. HUGHES JUSTICE COMPLEX
POBox023
TRENTON, NEW JERSEY 08625-0023

STUART RABNER
CHIEF JUSTICE

TO:

Assignment Judges
Municipal Court Presiding Judges
Trial Court Administrators

FROM:

Chief Justice Stuart Rabner

RE:

Immigration-Related Policies: Revisions to Judiciary Forms;
Updated Attorney General Guidance; Court Involvement with ICE Activities

DATE:

May 23, 2019

Directive #07-19
[Supersedes Directive #11-07]

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This directive modifies the Judiciary's policies on the collection of
immigration-related data and the protocol for responding to Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities at courthouses. These changes are consistent
with the Attorney General's revised policy on assistance to ICE officials.
Revisions to Judiciary Forms; Collection of Immigration Information

Courts generally gather and retain needed information about litigants. In
some instances, the Judiciary has requested and recorded information about an
individual's immigration status. Effective today, the Judiciary will request and
retain information about immigration status only when needed to fulfill a legitimate
court purpose. Courts will no longer collect immigration-related data for
demographic or other non-specific purposes.
To that end, electronic and paper forms used by the Judiciary, including
complaint forms (E-CDR and CDR2), will be revised to capture only info1mation
needed for court purposes. Administrative Directive #11-07, issued in response to
the Attorney General's Law Enforcement Directive No. 2007-03, is accordingly
superseded.

 By way of example, the Judiciary will continue to receive information about
immigration status to resolve criminal matters, make findings related to Special
Immigrant Juvenile Status, and process child adoptions. More generally,
immigration status may be pe1iinent to paiiicular court proceedings or decisions. In
such cases, attorneys - not judges - are responsible to raise relevant issues. Judges
retain discretionary authority to ask about immigration status.
The AOC will provide guidance and training to Judiciary staff to ensure
compliance with these revised practices.

ICE Activities at Courthouses
This directive also clarifies the Judiciary's protocol on how court staff should
respond to ICE activities at comihouses.
To ensure the effectiveness of the justice system, courthouses must be
viewed by the public, all parties, victims, and witnesses as a neutral and safe forum
to resolve disputes. With that in mind, I wrote to then-Homeland Security
Secretary John F. Kelly in April 2017 and asked that federal authorities designate
courthouses as "sensitive locations" -- the same designation given to schools,
hospitals, and places of worship. Under its own policy, ICE does not conduct
anests at those sensitive locations, except for emergencies.
A number of other State Supreme Court Chief Justices made the same
request, but the Department of Homeland Security declined to make the change.
Instead, it issued revised regulations on January 10, 2018. See ICE Directive No.
11072.1.
ICE's Directive states that "ICE officers and agents should generally avoid
enforcement actions in comihouses, or areas within courthouses that are dedicated
to non-criminal (e.g., family court, small claims comi) proceedings"; that
enforcement actions should be conducted "discreetly to minimize their impact on
court proceedings" and should "take place in non-public areas"; that "officers and
agents will make every effo1i to limit their time at courthouses while conducting
civil immigration enforcement actions"; and that enforcement actions should "be
conducted in collaboration with comi security staff." The ICE Directive, thus,
seeks to limit enforcement activities at comihouses.
On November 29, 2018, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal issued Law

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 Enforcement Directive No. 2018-6, which clarified the role and limits of state and
local law enforcement officers in their enforcement of state criminal law and
assistance to federal immigration authorities. The Attorney General also rescinded
the prior Directive on this subject, No. 2007-3.
The Judiciary continues to believe that civil immigration enforcement
activities should not take place in courthouses. In light of the above directives, we
anticipate that enforcement efforts by ICE will occur in courthouses only in rare
situations. In a recent meeting, ICE's Field Office Director for Newark, John
Tsoukaris, confirmed that ICE will minimize arrests in courthouses.
On the rare occasion when ICE seeks to carry out a civil enforcement action
at or near a courthouse, the following practices should be followed:
• ICE officials should identify themselves to courthouse security
personnel -- sheriffs officers at a county courthouse and local police
officers at a municipal court -- and state the purpose of their visit.
Notifying court security in advance will help avoid risks to the public,
court staff, and law enforcement.
• Comihouse security personnel should ask ICE agents to display a copy
of the warrant that authorizes an arrest.
• Courthouse security personnel should notify their respective
Assignment Judge, Trial Court Administrator, Municipal Comi Judge,
Municipal Court Director, or designee, of the presence of ICE officials
in the courthouse.
• Absent an emergency, ICE agents should conduct an arrest only after
the conclusion of the relevant court event, in a non-public area.
Federal law provides a backdrop to the above measures. As a reminder,
federal law does not allow judges and court staff to shield undocumented persons
from immigration enforcement activities. Judges and court staff may not forcibly
resist, impede, or interfere with a law enforcement officer's performance of official
duties. That extends to the arrest of an individual based on a judicial warrant.

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 In the event the above practices are not followed, please advise the
Administrative Director at once.

* * * * *
The above issues pose concerns on a number of levels. Thank you for your
professionalism in responding to sensitive situations and complying with applicable
laws.

cc:

Glenn A. Grant, J.A.D., Acting Administrative Director
Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal

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