Mayor accuses ICE of detaining vet, U.S. citizens in N.J. immigration raid
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Ras Baraka in Newark, New Jersey, on Feb. 11, 2022. Photo: Justin Lane/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided a Newark, New Jersey, business venue on Thursday and detained undocumented immigrants as well as U.S. citizens without warrants, the city's mayor said.
The big picture: Mayor Ras Baraka said in a statement after that a U.S. military veteran "suffered the indignity of having the legitimacy of his military documentation questioned" during the raid. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said he'd "reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for answers."
- ICE raids had been expected as part of President Trump's vow to crackdown on immigration and deport millions of undocumented immigrants.
Zoom in: ICE agents entered the Ocean Food Depot restaurant where owner Luis Janota said around a dozen immigration authorities detained three people after receiving a complaint, PIX11 News in New York reports.
- "I asked [the agents] what documentation they were looking for, and they said it was a license or a passport. I thought, who walks around with a passport?" Janota told the station.
- Janota said among the workers questioned was the manager of the restaurant's warehouse, a Puerto Rican man and military veteran. Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens.
- "It looked to me like they were specifically going after certain kinds of people — not every kind, because they did not ask me for documentation or my American workers, Portuguese workers or white workers."
What they're saying: "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement may encounter U.S. citizens while conducting field work and may request identification to establish an individual's identity as was the case during a targeted enforcement operation at a worksite today in Newark, New Jersey," an ICE spokesperson said in a statement.
- "This is an active investigation and, per ICE policy, we cannot discuss ongoing investigations."
By the numbers: ICE said on X it had arrested 538 people Thursday and detained 373, but it did not say where those raids were conducted.
State of play: Uncertainty about how immigration raids will be carried out and what will happen to those detained by immigration agents has created fear and sent immigrants and advocacy groups nationwide scrambling.
- Baraka accused ICE of an "egregious act" and of violating the Fourth Amendment.
- "Newark will not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorized," Baraka said, adding that there will be a press conference on the matter. A date was not immediately provided.
Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.), who represents the district that includes Newark, said in an emailed statement that her office has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security "to get answers on exactly what happened, and how it was allowed that ICE came in."
- She added: "Already, Trump's attacks on immigrant communities are hitting home and we will not back down."
Go deeper: Immigrants rush to prepare for Trump deportation raids
Editor's note: This article has been updated with comment from Rep. LaMonica McIver, ICE and Ocean Food Depot restaurant owner Luis Janota.
