NEWTON -- The Sussex County freeholders have asked the county clerk to put a special question on November's ballot asking citizens if they want to tell the county sheriff to ignore sanctuary state rules put in place in New Jersey.

NEWTON -- The Sussex County freeholders have asked the county clerk to put a special question on November's ballot asking citizens if they want to tell the county sheriff to ignore sanctuary state rules put in place in New Jersey about "undocumented migrants illegally residing in the United States of America."

The resolution, approved Wednesday by a 4-0 vote of the all-Republican board with Freeholder George Graham absent, says the question will give voters "the opportunity to express their opinion and to instruct their government with regard to the policy" put in place last month.

The state policy, known as the "Immigrant Trust Directive," prevents law enforcement officials from quizzing people about their immigration status unless relevant to an investigation and limits cooperation by jails with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The question on the county ballot, to be answered either "Yes" or "No," will state:

"The Voters of Sussex County, State of New Jersey, direct the Sheriff of Sussex County and his office to obey the duly enacted laws of the United States of America and all agencies of the federal government with regard to undocumented migrants illegally residing in the United States of America; and to further instruct the Sheriff of Sussex County and his office to ignore directives from state officers and agencies that would undermine federal law in this regard."

Freeholder Director Herb Yardley said Thursday that the "undermine federal law" phrase is resolution language. "What we really want is for the sheriff to cooperate with federal agents," he said.

Sheriff Michael Strada operates a small patrol force that does not investigate crimes but does road and traffic control and community service work, along with a force of deputies who handle civil matters. His department oversees the Keogh-Dwyer Correctional Facility, which, at one time, housed prisoners for the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on a per diem basis. That contract ended in May 2013.

"We don't hold any individuals solely on their immigration status," Strada said Thursday. "We recently released an inmate in January 2019 who served time for an outstanding warrant. After he served his time in our county, he was turned over to ICE because there was an active ICE detainer. The only immigrants that would be in our jail would be those who committed crimes in Sussex County."

He said the jail intake procedure asks an inmate if he or she is a citizen of the U.S.

The freeholder action refers to the "Governor of the State of New Jersey", but does not refer to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy by name. The resolution also does not mention state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, who drew up the guidelines for police agencies in the state and released them on March 15.

Yardley said he believes it is the first voter referendum being sought in the state after the formal "sanctuary" rules took effect.

The resolution said copies of the resolution would be forwarded to "Sussex County Federal and State Legislators; the Mayors and Clerks/Administrators of all the Sussex County Municipalities."

Yardley asked that the resolution also be forwarded to the 20 other county freeholder boards in the state and to each municipality.

The resolution does not refer to other police agencies within the county, such as municipal or state police, nor would it affect National Park Service rangers, federal Fish and Wildlife officers, or state parks or conservation police.

In remarks at Wednesday's meeting, Freeholder Dawn Fantasia said the immigration crisis has led to "unprecedented abuse of women and children" and added, the resolution would tell the sheriff "to ignore a reckless state directive."

Freeholder Josh Hertzberg, who came to the board in January along with Fantasia, said he began his career as a federal border officer, and said the voter initiative is "asking our politicians to follow the law."

Freeholder Sylvia Petillo said, "We have laws in our country to keep order. If we don't, we have chaos. If you don't respect the laws of the U.S., you don't respect the U.S. I'm tired of people trying to bully their way into our country."

The freeholders' action was praised by 24th District state representatives, Sen. Steve Oroho and Assemblymen Parker Space and Hal Wirths.

"I am proud of the supporters of this resolution for taking a strong stand against �Sanctuary State' policies," Oroho said.

"Steve, Hal, and I have long recognized that there needs to be a multi-prong approached to combatting illegal immigration -- such as protecting American workers by enacting E-verify and punishing employers who continue to hire illegals and opposing policies that incentivize lawlessness," Space said. "�Sanctuary State' efforts do the direct opposite and will take tools away from law enforcement to combat gangs, drug cartels, and violent criminals."

The lawmakers said that the directive discourages prosecutors from bringing charges on immigrants living in the country illegally, as federal immigration officials have routinely made arrests in some county courthouses.

Also Thursday afternoon, Jerry Scanlan, chairman of the Sussex County GOP Committee, issued a statement on behalf of the committee.

"We applaud the vote of the Sussex County Board of Chosen Freeholders to allow the voters of Sussex County to weigh in on the debate over illegal immigration and the so-called "Sanctuary State" directive of the administration of Governor Phil Murphy," the statement said, adding that the directives by Murphy's administration "are illegal, because you cannot overturn laws passed by Congress, signed by the President, and upheld by the United States Supreme Court -- using a directive from an un-elected state bureaucrat."

In New Jersey, the post of attorney general is a governor's appointment.

The March 15 directive by the state attorney general outlines several prohibited actions by police in New Jersey:

º Cannot stop, question, arrest, search, or detain any individual based solely on actual or suspected immigration status.

º Cannot ask the immigration status of any individual, unless doing so is necessary to the ongoing investigation of a serious offense and relevant to the offense under investigation.

º Cannot participate in civil immigration enforcement operations conducted by ICE.

º Cannot provide ICE with access to state or local law enforcement resources, including equipment, office space, databases, or property, unless those resources are readily available to the public.

º Cannot allow ICE to interview an individual arrested on a criminal charge unless that person is advised of his or her right to a lawyer.

The standards do not prohibit police officers from assisting federal immigration authorities in response to emergency circumstances, and officers may participate with federal authorities in joint law enforcement task forces, provided the primary purpose is unrelated to federal civil immigration enforcement.

Also, local, county and state police can still request proof of identity during the course of an arrest or when legally justified during an investigative stop, such as a traffic stop, or detention.

In the resolution's paragraphs leading up to the question to be asked, the Sussex County freeholders said the "actions of the Governor will create less secure and more porous borders, thereby diminishing the security of the United States and its citizens and allowing the growth and protection of such illegal activities, the trafficking in illegal narcotics (including opioids), the trafficking in illegal firearms, and in human trafficking (modern slavery), especially the trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation."

Early this week, ICE officials in Newark announced that agents had arrested 123 foreign nationals in a month-long operation and 90 percent of them had prior criminal convictions and/or pending criminal charges.

The arrests occurred in 14 of the state's 21 counties. None were arrested in Sussex, Warren or Hunterdon counties.