Frisby said that she took time from her full-time job “to protect my Latino brothers and sisters and my Haitian brothers and sisters.”
Councilmember Crystal Feliciano said that as a teacher at Trenton Central High School, she ensured her students were safe during the first Trump administration.
“We are all over again, living in a crazy time,” she said, adding that she wants the city to be “legal and right.”
“What I don’t appreciate is that when you come here and then you say it’s not enough … it’s not fair to us,” she said.
The ordinance needed four votes to pass.
Edward J. Kologi, the council’s attorney, said that the council could table the ordinance to a later date. Sensing the tension in the room, Figueroa Kettenburg called for a vote to do just that after the council approved an amendment to fix clerical errors in the proposal.
Police officers standing outside of Trenton City Hall after activists left council chambers following tensions during Thursday’s City Council meeting. (P. Kenneth Burns/WHYY)
Asma Elhuni, an organizer with Resistencia en Acción New Jersey, was unsympathetic to council members who took offense to activists expressing their concerns about the bill.
“If you don’t have thick enough skin to hear your constituents literally telling you this is what’s needed for our community … maybe this leadership role isn’t for you,” she said. “You’re a leader. You got to take heat.”
Elhuni said she hopes that both sides will take the next two weeks to address concerns about detainers.
“We do want to continue to work together to ensure that we are continuing to provide protections for immigrants because they’re desperately needed, particularly now,” she said.
The council moved forward with the proposed ordinance at its May 19 meeting. The measure expands on a series of state laws signed by Gov. Mikie Sherrill in late March, and specifies when the Trenton Police Department can assist ICE officers by distinguishing between judicial and administrative warrants.
Under the proposal, Trenton police would be prohibited from aiding in civil immigration enforcement, which stems from an administrative warrant issued by an immigration officer within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. City resources, including property, equipment and personnel, are also barred from use in civil enforcement actions.
The police department would not be restrained from cooperating with federal officials when enforcement action is initiated by a judicial warrant, which is issued by a judge from an Article III court on the federal level — the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals, U.S. District Court or U.S. Court of International Trade — or state court.
Officers would also be able to continue participating in joint law enforcement operations when they do not involve civil immigration enforcement.
Mayor Reed Gusciora said he would have to review the bill after the amendments are added before deciding whether to sign it.