Capable officials can
handle immigration issue

Freehold Borough is a proud and capable community — one that over the years has weathered its share of good times and bad. Our microfilm copies of the old Freehold Transcript recount the achievements of residents of all races, religions and socioeconomic backgrounds.

When a problem has arisen, history says the borough’s residents and political leaders have talked it through, worked it out and come up with a solution they believe will best serve the community.

We think the borough’s residents and representatives are still capable of doing that in the 21st century.

In recent years, the borough has found itself at the center of a story that affects many other communities in America. For whatever reason, the borough became a drawing card for illegal immigrants who came here to seek a better life for themselves and their families.

The situation has created issues that range from an increasing school enrollment, to overcrowded residential units, to strained social services.

Many issues associated with the immigration situation have been chronicled in the News Transcript over the past six months. Within the past few weeks, more of New Jersey’s media have taken notice of what is happening to this small town.

Faced with a rising outcry from residents who are no longer able to foot the bill for a situation they did not create, borough officials have begun to seriously address the matter.

The most tangible action is the planned closing of the muster zone, an area on Throckmorton Street where immigrants gather on a daily basis and are solicited for work by employers in the landscaping and construction trades, among others.

To say that decision has made news would be an understatement. And why has it made news? For this reason: Because local government officials have come to realize it is their right, and duty, to protect the citizens of the community.

Make no mistake, this can be the type of issue that deeply divides a town. The sides have been drawn in letters to the editor, at municipal meetings, and in comments heard around the community. The last thing anyone wants to see is a situation that escalates into an "us vs. them" battle. Thankfully, that has not happened in Freehold Borough, although there are some indications the situation is approaching that critical juncture.

The matter has not been helped in recent weeks by the formation of a group calling itself the Monmouth County Residents for Immigrants Rights. The group members — who hail from throughout the county — have no standing in the borough, although we do not dispute their right to have their point of view heard.

The group claims that the borough’s plan to close the day laborers’ muster zone is unconstitutional.

It is the group’s position that closing the muster zone violates the aliens’ constitutional right to make a living.

That is a specious argument at best and does nothing to solve the problem. It only makes it worse by diverting the attention of those who are really trying to make things better.

We’re certain that no other town in Monmouth County is going to pony up any money to help Freehold Borough.

We believe this situation is one the borough must be allowed to work through itself, with local officials and residents leading the way.

This community has opened its heart to the immigrant population. Clothing drives, food drives, monetary donations, free meals — the list goes on — are now regular parts of what takes place in Freehold Borough on a daily basis.

But it can’t go on forever, and there is a limit to the number of people who can squeeze into the borough to live and find work in the region.

The federal government must hear the voices of Freehold Borough and other communities that find themselves in a similar situation.

A majority of Americans want an end to the rising tide of illegal immigration. They want their rights and their communities protected from the problems associated with that issue.

What Americans don’t know how to get is attention from a federal government that appears to have no interest whatsoever in addressing their legitimate concerns.