Newark Mayor accuses ICE, says “Newark will not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorised”
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
United States authorities have arrested 538 illegal migrants and deported hundreds using a military aircraft, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt disclosed on Thursday, four days into Donald Trump’s second term as President.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials also confirmed the arrest of illegal immigrants nationwide but the Mayor of Newark in New Jersey said they detained undocumented immigrants as well as US citizens without warrants.
ICE reported more than 460 arrests over a 33-hour period spanning Tuesday to Wednesday. Those arrested had criminal histories including sexual assault, robbery, drug and weapons offenses and domestic violence, among other offenses, according to ICE.
ICE also said:
- It issued over 420 detainer requests, which ask local jails to hold an individual past their release date while the agency weighs deportation proceedings against them.
- The detainers impacted individuals hailing from Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Venezuela, the agency said in a press release.
Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) agents in Salt Lake City, Utah said they arrested Jesus Perez, a citizen of Mexico accused of aggravated sexual assault of a child. He is in ICE custody amid removal proceedings.
In New York City, ICE agents apprehended suspected MS-13 gang member Jose Roberto Rodriguez-Urbina of El Salvador. The 22-year-old is accused of overstaying his terms of admission to the US.
Newark Mayor accuses ICE of violating Fourth Amendment
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka disclosed in a statement a US military veteran “suffered the indignity of having the legitimacy of his military documentation questioned” during the raid, and Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said he’s “reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for answers.”
ICE raids had been expected as part of Trump’s vow to crackdown on immigration and deport millions of undocumented immigrants.
Axios reports that 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, according to PIX11 News in New York.
“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 US 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.”
An ICE spokesperson explained in a statement that “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.
“This is an active investigation and, per ICE policy, we cannot discuss ongoing investigations.”
ICE disclosed on X it had arrested 538 people Thursday and detained 373, but it did not say where those were conducted.
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 violating the Fourth Amendment.
“Newark will not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorized,” he 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.”
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