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Resident group asks Bedminster committee about safeguards for ICE enforcement actions
Summary
Denise King, vice chair of the Bedminster Democratic Committee, asked the township to clarify policies protecting residents from unlawful or improperly identified immigration enforcement actions and urged the Somerset Hills Public Safety Committee to develop guidelines; the committee said it would circulate her statement to area mayors and noted state directives already in effect.
At the Jan. 20 Bedminster Township Committee meeting, Denise King, vice chair of the Bedminster Democratic Committee, used the public-comment period to raise concerns about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations that have been reported elsewhere in the region and asked whether Bedminster has policies to guard against improperly conducted enforcement actions.
King told the committee that recent incidents in neighboring towns, reports of masked individuals without warrants and the presence of groups impersonating federal officers have generated community concern. She referred to pending state-level measures — the Safe Communities Act, a Privacy Protection Act, and an "immigration trust directive" codifying earlier guidance — and asked whether the township has local policies to ensure officers identify themselves and follow law-enforcement protocols.
"We really respect and count on our Bedminster Police Department," King said. "If they have to come and see somebody, they are not masked, they show identification, and they say why they're there." She asked the committee to consider planning now and to ask the Somerset Hills Public Safety Committee, under mayoral leadership, to develop policies.
Mayor Jacobs said he would distribute an email version of King's statement to the other mayors on the Somerset Hills Public Safety Committee and noted that the state's trust directive has been operational since 2019. Committee members did not adopt any new local policy at the meeting; the matter was recorded as public comment and will be relayed to regional public-safety partners as requested.
What happens next: the mayor said he would forward King's statement to other Somerset Hills mayors; no formal township action or ordinance was proposed at the Jan. 20 meeting.
