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New Jersey Church Works With U.S. to Spare Immigrants Detention - NYTimes.com
Under an unusual compact between the pastor and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Newark, four Indonesians have been released from detention in recent weeks, and 41 others living as fugitives from deportation have turned themselves in under church auspices. Instead of being jailed — as hundreds of thousands of immigrants without criminal records have been in recent years — they have been released on orders of supervision, eligible for work permits while their lawyers consider how their cases might be reopened.
This is a good sign as immigration laws since 1996, as being enforced since 9/11, have burdened our detention system with tens of thousands of non-violent "offenders" who should simply be released and ordered to return to immigration court.
Under an unusual compact between the pastor and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Newark, four Indonesians have been released from detention in recent weeks, and 41 others living as fugitives from deportation have turned themselves in under church auspices. Instead of being jailed — as hundreds of thousands of immigrants without criminal records have been in recent years — they have been released on orders of supervision, eligible for work permits while their lawyers consider how their cases might be reopened.
This is a good sign as immigration laws since 1996, as being enforced since 9/11, have burdened our detention system with tens of thousands of non-violent "offenders" who should simply be released and ordered to return to immigration court.