ICE raids establishment in Newark, NJ, mayor claims

On By Littum

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Newark Mayor Ras Baraka confirmed in a statement that the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, commonly referred to as ICE, raided a local business in the city on Thursday.

Baraka said agents detained undocumented residents as well as citizens without producing a warrant.

“One of those detained is a US military veteran who has suffered the indignity of having the legitimacy of his military documentation questioned,” Baraka said. “This egregious act is in clear violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees ‘the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and possessions, against unreasonable searches and seizures…'”

The mayor went on to say that Newark will not “stand idly by while people are illegally terrorized.”

This raid comes a few days after President Donald Trump returned to office. He has since signed a number of executive orders to do everything from allowing ICE raids on houses of worship to removing birthright citizenship.

During his campaign, Trump threatened deportation of 11 million undocumented immigrantss when he returned to the White House. More than 470,000 New Jersey residents are undocumented.

During Trump’s first term, the Justice Department took the state to court over a state directive that limited how much New Jersey law enforcement can cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

The state was often at odds with the Trump administration, often using the court system to halt a number of policies.

The threat of ICE raids during that time left many immigrant communities on edge.

Last month, the ACLU reported that private prison companies had submitted proposals to ICE to add about 600 beds at two facilities in New Jersey.

That organization found out about the plans through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. It would add more beds to the Elizabeth Detention Center, the last remaining immigration detention facility in the state, which is owned and operated by CoreCivic. The other, from GEO Group, would create a new facility at the Albert M. Robinson Center in Trenton, a halfway house it used to own.

In August 2021, Governor Phil Murphy signed a law barring New Jersey from contracting with ICE to detain federal immigrant detainees. The law barred local and private prisons from “entering into, renewing or extending immigration detention agreements.”

Within three months of the law taking effect, Essex, Hudson and Bergen counties ended their longstanding contracts with ICE.