Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said residents of Newark are being “unlawfully terrorized.” The Trump administration has pledged to crack down on illegal immigration. (Photo via U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)
Immigrant officials raided a business in Newark, detaining a U.S. military veteran and multiple undocumented residents without producing a warrant, according to city officials.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka released a statement describing Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s actions Thursday and condemning the agency for the raid.
“This egregious act is in plain violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” said Baraka, a Democrat who is running for governor this year. “Newark will not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorized.”
One of the detainees is a veteran who suffered the “indignity of having the legitimacy of his military documentation questioned,” Baraka said.
A spokesperson for the state Attorney General’s Office declined to comment.
Immigrants and activists have been on edge since President Donald Trump signed a slew of executive orders cracking down on immigration during his first hours in office Monday. Trump’s border czar said ICE arrested 308 migrants across America on Tuesday and made 766 apprehensions at the southern border, according to the New York Post.
Baraka did not name the raided business in his statement or say how many people were detained by ICE.
In a call Thursday with Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-10), state officials, and immigrant advocates, Make the Road New Jersey Deputy Director Nedia Morsy said the “policies of the Trump administration are xenophobic and they are racist.”
“This is the work of the Trump administration, an attempt to undo all of the progress that we have made, and he won’t succeed,” Morsy said.
Trump on Wednesday said he was sending 1,500 military troops to the southern border as part of his crackdown on illegal immigration.
“President Trump is sending a very strong message to people around this world — if you are thinking about breaking the laws of the United States of America, you will be returned home. You will be arrested. You will be prosecuted,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
The New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice said on social media that it’s crucial that all New Jerseyans are safe in their communities. The group said it’s time to distribute materials more rapidly that inform residents of their rights “in preparation for more raids like these.”
Immigrant advocates have been pushing state lawmakers to pass the Immigrant Trust Act, which would prohibit state and local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities when voluntary, limit circumstances where public agencies can ask about immigration status, and ensure people regardless of immigration status can access public services in schools, libraries, and health care facilities. The bill has not moved since it was introduced last year.
Amol Sinha, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, said organizations are tracking what’s happening across communities.
It’s unclear whether any other ICE raids were conducted in New Jersey, although multiple were reported across the country, including in New York City, Boston, San Francisco, Minnesota, Florida, and Maryland.
New Jersey is home to more than 400,000 undocumented immigrants.
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