The pending deportation of a New Jersey father of two children with autism is calling into question whether a state policy restricting local police cooperation with immigration authorities is being properly followed and enforced.

On November 19th, Melvin Herrera-Interiano, 50, was pulled over in Plainfield, N.J., for making an illegal turn, according to police. A Honduran immigrant and construction worker living in North Brunswick, Herrera-Interiano was driving with a license legally issued to him in Maryland, but he did not have an insurance card for the vehicle.

Herrera-Interiano would have been issued a summons and sent on his way, according to Plainfield Police Captain David Guarino, but officers did a search of his name through the FBI’s National Criminal Information Center database, and his name popped up with a warrant from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Guarino said he did not have a copy of the warrant but it was signed by a judge. “When there is a warrant like there is in this case, we are in compliance in calling ICE,” he said.

That account, however, was refuted by ICE, further muddying the circumstances behind the pending deportation. There was no warrant, according to ICE spokesman Emilio Dabul, though there is a “final order of removal.” Herrera-Interiano was arrested in 2005 after entering the country illegally, according to Dabul, and released pending a court date. He did not show up to court -- he said he never received the notice -- and a deportation order was issued, according to ICE. In the 15 years since, he stayed off of ICE’s radar and has no criminal charges or convictions.

Immigration advocates from Central Jersey say not only does his family need him here -- he’s the breadwinner, and his partner stays home to care for their two autistic children, who are U.S. citizens -- but his arrest violated state policy.

Listen to reporter Matt Katz's story for WNYC:

The controversial New Jersey Immigrant Trust Directive specifically forbids local law enforcement officers from enforcing federal civil immigration rules and holding someone for ICE unless he or she is charged with a serious crime or has a warrant signed by a federal judge. There is also an exception for those “subject to a Final Order of Removal that has been signed by a federal judge and lodged with the county jail or state prison where the detainee is being held.” Herrera-Interiano, however, wasn’t detained at the county jail or in a state prison when officers contacted ICE to have him picked up. In addition, ICE said the order was signed by an immigration judge -- not a federal district court judge.

Plainfield police held Herrera-Interiano for three hours after the traffic stop, according to Guarino, until ICE arrived.

“Please help me, this is an emergency,” said Geyde Zapata, his partner and the mother of his children, when asked what she wanted to tell U.S. officials. “I hope they hear this and don’t send Melvin back to Honduras because there are two children who are autistic who need their father. And if [ICE] sends him to Honduras, they will be very affected...Release him so that he could be free with us.”

Mayor Adrian Mapp of Plainfield, which is nearly half Hispanic, said through a spokeswoman that he has "cause for concern" over the traffic stop and subsequent detention. He said both the Union County Prosecutor's Office and state attorney general's office, which created the policy, told him that the police "appropriately followed" state guidelines. But he said he has requested a "more thorough internal review" by the Plainfield police director.

Before his arrest, Herrera-Interiano was in the process of filing the paperwork to straighten out his immigration status. That’s part of the reason why immigration advocates in New Jersey have taken up his cause, lobbying politicians to intervene and holding a rally on his behalf on Thursday.

“There was no reason to detain him because he was already engaged in a process with his attorneys,” said Ellen Whitt of the group Deportation & Immigration Response Equipo. She has visited Herrera-Interiano in detention.

“We are not really hopeful, unless there’s a lot of public pressure to change their mind. ICE has discretion on these cases. They could make a different decision. They’re perfectly in their rights to stay, ‘He has two autistic children, he has a basis to stay, and he will check in with ICE on a regular basis.’ And in some previous times in history, that’s what would have happened.”

The Immigrant Trust Directive is what is often referred to as New Jersey’s “sanctuary state” policy. It was issued by state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and held up by Democratic Governor Phil Murphy as an example of how New Jersey is safe for immigrants to interact with law enforcement. President Donald Trump, however, insists New Jersey is harboring dangerous criminals. And the directive is the focus of a lawsuit by two New Jersey counties, Ocean and Cape May, that don’t want to follow the policy.

Contrary to the Plainfield mayor's assertion that the attorney general's office thought police officers acted appropriately in the case, an attorney general spokesman said no one from his office was in contact with the mayor. The spokesman would not comment on whether Plainfield police officers violated the Immigrant Trust Directive, citing a possible investigation into the matter.

“Officers who violate these rules are subject to discipline within their police departments, as they would be for any violation of an Attorney General Directive,” spokesman Peter Aseltine wrote in an email. “We don’t know all the facts of the specific incident, and so we can’t comment on whether the actions resulted in a violation of the Directive.”

Aseltine said anyone with concerns about a violation should file a complaint to the Planfield police internal affairs unit or the county prosecutor’s office.

But advocates see a lack of an enforcement mechanism to make sure that local officers follow the state directive. “It’s pretty tough to file a complaint when you’re sitting in a detention center,” Whitt said. “If that’s what’s required, it’s a bit of a flaw.” For one thing, she said, there’s no call-back number for Herrera-Interiano in ICE detention if authorities were to investigate.

Herrera-Interiano is detained at the Elizabeth Contract Detention Center in New Jersey. He told his family that he was informed that he will be sent to Honduras on Tuesday, though his lawyer is still seeking to stop the deportation.

Matt Katz is a reporter at WNYC News covering immigration, hate, and security. You can follow him on Twitter at @mattkatz00.