NJ Sen. Robert Menendez introduces immigration reform bill

WASHINGTON – Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey has introduced a broad immigration reform bill that would put the nation’s approximately 11 million illegal immigrants on a path toward citizenship and enact other sweeping reforms.

The bill, introduced late Wednesday, calls for enhanced border security and tougher enforcement of laws banning employment of undocumented workers, and would make it easier for legal residents to bring family members to the U.S.

It’s highly unlikely Congress will consider the measure this year, and it has only a slim chance of passage...

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Plainfield, NJ man charged with having sex with girl in Dover, NJ and Parsippany, NJ

A 33-year-old suspected illegal alien is being held on $300,000 bail on charges of having sex with a child two years ago in Dover and at the Red Carpet Inn in Parsippany this past year.

Javier Cortes-Vera, who currently lives in Plainfield, was charged Tuesday with three counts each of aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault, and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. He is being held at the Morris County jail.

According to criminal complaints and an arrest affidavit made public today, an unidentified witness contacted Dover police on Aug. 4 to report that a now-10-year-old girl was sexually assaulted.

The child told Morris County Prosecutor's Office Detectives Cheryl Drinkard and Carolina Moreno that Cortes-Vera brought her to a motel in Parsippany and engaged in intercourse with her, the affidavit said...

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NJ Immigrant Advocate Quits Town Panel After Illegal Status Revealed

FREEHOLD — A Mexican native living in this country illegally has resigned from the borough's Human Relations Committee after his immigration status was revealed.

Juan Reyes of Howell stepped down from the committee June 7 following an Asbury Park Press report that referred to him as undocumented.

Reyes had served about three years on the committee, he said.

"I didn't want to make it bigger," Reyes said after the Borough Council accepted his resignation...

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In Trenton, Issuing IDs For Illegal Immigrants

TRENTON, N.J. — Since moving to this city from her native Guatemala a decade ago, Herlinda, an illegal immigrant, has supported her family with restaurant work, but has had no way of proving that she lives here. Without government-issued photo identification, like a driver’s license or a passport, she said, she could not get treatment at most medical clinics, borrow a book from the library, pick up a package from a mail center or cash a check.

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But this month she discovered a solution: a community identification card issued by a coalition of civic groups and endorsed by Trenton and Mercer County officials...

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