Montgomery Township has become the first municipality in New Jersey to formally call for migrant families to be released from detention centers around the country and reunited with their family members.

The resolution was unanimously passed by the township committee Dec. 7. The formal action calls for Rep. Tom Malinowski and U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Robert Menendez to take action on ending immigrant detention and reunifying migrant families.

“We condemn the inhumane treatment of migrants at our borders and the interior of the country,” the resolution reads.

The committee was approached by Afsheen Shamsi, of Princeton, with a draft of the resolution asking if Montgomery would consider taking formal action on the subject, according to Mayor Sadaf Jaffer.

Shamsi sits on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey. She said she felt personally called to take a public stance on this issue and encourage municipalities around the state to follow suit.

“I saw the detentions happening and I started feeling really helpless, and then I thought, well I am an American citizen (and) have the power to have my voice heard,” Shamsi said.

Shamsi has been working with Cherry Hill, Flemington, Jersey City, and Princeton to get the resolution passed in those locations as well. She is hoping to get 50 towns to pass the resolution in the next 60 days, and 100 towns to pass the resolution overall.

“All of us are living in places that have undocumented people in our communities it is important for us to express that we support all people regardless of their immigration status,” Jaffer said.

Jaffer, the daughter of Pakistani immigrants, is the first female South Asian mayor of a New Jersey municipality and the first female Muslim mayor in the state.

Montgomery, in Somerset County, has 23,000 residents, 33% of whom are Asian, and 4% identify as Hispanic or Latino, according to census data.

The mayor said residents have come to her with concerns about the conditions undocumented immigrants are facing in detention centers in New Jersey. She and the committee worked on creating a revised resolution with assistance from the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and Make the Road NJ.

“The sad fact is these migrant family separations are continuing to take place and we have to keep these issues alive,” Jaffer said.

Several members of the public voiced their support for the resolution and the action the committee was taking.

“I just wanted to thank all of you and Mayor Jaffer for passing this legislation this evening. What is happening in our detention centers is absolutely inhumane and a lot of people are in a lot of pain about this issue and feel helpless, so thank you for letting people know that they are not alone in raising their voices,” Shamsi said at the meeting.

Heather Ciociola said she was pleased to see that the committee was voting on the resolution as she volunteers with the NJ Jewish Coalition for Refugees.

“It is really important for localities and towns and states and countries to make open statements about their welcoming nature about their communities,” Ciociola said.

In her work with refugee advocacy Ciociola said there has been a push for towns to make public statements like this one expressing that they are open and welcoming of refugees as the federal government is starting to put more of the responsibility of accepting refugees on local towns.

“I agree with every single word of it but I don’t think the township should get involved with federal issues,” said Larry Coplin.

He said he was concerned that taking such a stance would be a waste of time and resources for the township, and that there was nothing stopping the committee from taking a stance on any national issue.

“Everyone wants to say it’s somebody else’s problem, even when it’s brought up at the state level,” Jaffer said during the meeting.

She said making the statement was important because the committee’s voice as a whole is more likely to be heard over the average person’s.

Although Montgomery is the first town in New Jersey to make such a public statement, Princeton is also expected to hear a similar resolution in January.

The New Jersey League of Municipalities could not confirm if any other municipalities had passed similar resolutions but noted they didn’t have any records on file of other municipalities doing so.

Olivia Rizzo may be reached at orizzo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @LivRizz. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tips.

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