The chief justice of New Jersey’s Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the state’s judges to enforce tight controls over federal immigration officials seeking to arrest undocumented immigrants during routine court appearances.

The top judge also ordered court staff to scale back the collection of information on the immigration status of people who appear in New Jersey courtrooms.

In a directive sent to officials at state superior and municipal courts, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner noted that controversial courthouse arrests happen only on “rare occasions” in New Jersey and that ICE officials in the state have agreed to limit arrests at courthouses.

Rabner said the directive brings courthouse policies in line with guidelines from state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, who earlier this year issued his own directive curtailing law enforcement cooperation with ICE.

The new rules come more than two years after Rabner complained to federal officials about the arrests of undocumented immigrants at courthouses in Passaic and Middlesex counties.

Critics of the practice say targeting immigrants for arrest during routine court appearances discourages undocumented victims from reporting crimes and witnesses from testifying in cases over concerns that taking the stand could lead to their deportation.

“To ensure the effectiveness of the justice system, courthouses must be viewed by he public, all parties, victims, and witnesses as a neutral and safe forum to resolve disputes," Rabner wrote in his directive.

Immigration officials counter they only use the practice sparingly when other attempts to locate the targets of their investigations fail.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, declined requests from Rabner and other top judges around the country to classify courthouses “sensitive locations” – a designation currently applied to places like schools and churches, where ICE arrests are prohibited or severely limited.

Rabner’s directive notes the director of ICE’s Newark field office, John Tsoukaris, “confirmed that ICE will minimize arrests in courthouses” during a recent meeting.

A spokesman for Tsoukaris said ICE “has always sought to minimize arrests in courthouses.”

“Arrest location determinations are based on case specific circumstances,” said the spokesman, Emilio Dabul, in an email.

The directive spells out new guidelines directing ICE officials to notify court staff in advance if they plan to conduct an arrest and to identify themselves and state the purpose of their visit when they arrive at New Jersey courthouses.

It directs court security to request to see warrants when ICE does appear at courthouses, and to notify assignment judges and other officials when they become aware of ICE’s presence.

The directive also scales back the circumstances under which people are asked to disclose their immigration status in court paperwork.

It removes questions about immigration status from certain court paperwork, noting that such information should only be collected when it is relevant to the case, such as during criminal matters or adoption proceedings.

S.P. Sullivan may be reached at ssullivan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter.

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