Jersey City’s sanctuary city policy is facing scrutiny this week following the revelation that the alleged Lincoln Park killer is an undocumented immigrant who has been deported twice.

The policy, enacted via executive order by Mayor Steve Fulop in February 2017 and endorsed unanimously by the City Council, was intended to illustrate that Jersey City is a welcoming city to immigrants, its supporters say. But critics slam it as evidence that Democrats like Fulop aren’t thinking straight on immigration.

Joshua Sotomayor Einstein, a Hoboken man and committee member with the New Jersey Republican Party, said Democrats act like any action taken to curb immigration or deport criminals is immoral, when in fact such actions merely reflect equal application of the law.

“I think we need to fight against nativist and xenophobia, but definitely having unequal application of the law breeds that,” Einstein said. “Not only does it end up in these horrible situations ... but it tears at that bedrock principle that we have that everyone is equal under the law."

Jorge Rios, also known as Jorge Alberto Rios-Doblado, was arrested on Saturday and charged in the rape and murder of Carolina Cano, a 45-year-old woman whose body was found in Lincoln Park on March 24. Immigration officials confirmed this week that Rios, 33, entered the United States illegally and has been deported twice before. Rios is originally from Honduras.

Jersey City Councilman Rich Boggiano, who represents the heavily immigrant Journal Square area, supported the sanctuary city order when it came before the council. But the councilman, a Democrat, said episodes like the Lincoln Park killing are why the United States needs to “close the border.”

"How long are we going to tolerate people's children being murdered?" Boggiano said. "I have nothing against people coming to this country … If you’re a convicted criminal or deported you should not be able to get back in the country.”

Fulop’s spokeswoman declined to comment. A request for comment from Council President Rolando Lavarro was not returned.

Democratic Councilman James Solomon, who represents the Downtown area, was not on the council when the sanctuary city policy was approved but he supports it. Solomon called it “unfortunate” that critics are using Cano’s killing to amplify their political position on immigration.

“It is unfortunately a tactic used by xenophobes across the world and across America to take the worst person in a group and use that person to tar the whole group,” he said. “Sanctuary city policies do nothing to prevent the true workings of our criminal justice system. If you commit a crime, whether you're documented or undocumented, you go to jail.”

Freeholder Bill O’Dea, who represents the Lincoln Park area, said he doesn’t think Jersey City’s sanctuary city policies do anything to attract immigrants to an area or convince them to stay.

“I think that historically through the entire history of this nation immigrants documented and undocumented are always drawn to urban areas,” said O’Dea, a Democrat. “That’s reality and that’s not going to change under any circumstance.”

Jose Arango, chair of Hudson County's Republican Party, characterized sanctuary city policies as "political grandstanding" and said locals should pressure federal lawmakers to come to an agreement on revamping the nation's immigration system.

“When the person who commits the crime has been deported more than one time and comes back to a place where they are protected ... that creates this atmosphere that is counterproductive to people who are trying to legalize their status in the United States," Arango said.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.