Policy Change for NJ Police

New York, NY —

New Jersey police must now ask suspects arrested for serious crimes about their immigration status. State Attorney General Anne Milgram made the decision to implement the policy after the recent triple homicide in Newark.

REPORTER: At least one of the suspects is undocumented. Milgram says calls to Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE could increase exponentially.

MILGRAM: So ICE is going to get more notifications now than they've ever gotten before - what we've agreed to do is essentially work together to figure out how best to get notifications to them and what information they need to do their job as well as they can."

REPORTER: The policy forbids officers from checking on the immigration status of crime victims or witnesses. People arrested or stopped for minor offenses such as drug possession would also be exempt from the new rules.