New Jersey mayor says his city was ‘unlawfully terrorized’ by federal agents during immigrant enforcement action at business
By Gloria Pazmino, Mark Morales and Chelsea Bailey, CNN
(CNN) — A New Jersey mayor says his city has been “unlawfully terrorized” after federal agents detained multiple people Thursday during what Immigration and Customs Enforcement called “a targeted enforcement operation.”
The agents “raided” a local business and detained “undocumented residents as well as citizens, without producing a warrant,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said in a statement.
“One of the detainees is a U.S. military veteran who suffered the indignity of having the legitimacy of his military documentation questioned,” he added.
CNN has not been able to independently verify details of the mayor’s statements.
Julia Ortiz, an immigration organizer with New Labor, a local immigration rights group in Newark, told CNN eight people were questioned and three were taken into custody by agents.
Ortiz said the group was notified of the action by an employee of Ocean Seafood Depot who called them to say immigration agents had shown up unannounced at their place of work.
A spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed Thursday that a US citizen was involved but declined to comment further on the active investigation.
“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,” the spokesman said in a statement.
The arrests come as the new Trump administration moves to clamp down on immigration and undo Biden-era policies that President Donald Trump believes led to an influx of undocumented immigrants. The White House on Friday announced the first deportation flights leaving from Texas as more troops have been ordered to the southern US border with Mexico.
On Wednesday, the Trump administration outlined plans to challenge so-called “sanctuary city” laws by threatening to prosecute state and local officials who resist the federal immigration crackdown, according to a copy of the Justice Department memo obtained by CNN.
A law enforcement source briefed on the investigation in Newark told CNN the enforcement action on Thursday was in response to a tip reporting unauthorized workers at a place of business.
The action was carried out by Homeland Security Investigations, the federal law enforcement agency within the Department of Homeland Security, and was not initiated by ICE, the source said. It is not clear when the tip was reported to HSI, they added.
During worksite enforcement actions, HSI officials typically request to see people’s identification to confirm they are authorized to work. CNN has reached out to HSI to determine if a warrant was issued prior to the search.
Surveillance video obtained by CNN from a nearby business shows several federal agents walking around the corner of the seafood distributor and putting at least one person into the back of a vehicle.
At a news conference Friday, Baraka called the federal response to the detentions “cavalier” and said since speaking out, he’s been accused of harboring “rapists and murderers” in the city.
“The problem with this is none of these people were rapists or murderers or criminals. The problem with it is that ICE went in there without a warrant,” Baraka said.
While people can disagree and debate over immigration policies, Baraka said everyone in the US is entitled to the protections of the Fourth and 14th amendments to the Constitution.
“Everybody has a right to due process,” he said. “It’s a slippery slope when we think it’s OK to suspend the Constitution of the United States in order to make a political point or statement.”
The owner of the fish market where the enforcement action occurred says he fears it will hurt his business, according to CNN affiliate WCBS.
Speaking with the news outlet, the owner of the Ocean Seafood Depot said that roughly a dozen agents arrived at the market at around 11 a.m. Thursday, asking to see documentation of his employees.
Three people were taken into custody, he told WCBS.
“A couple of the guys couldn’t show their identification,” the owner said. “Twenty-six years in business, I never seen anything like this.”
When asked whether the incident would deter his other employees from coming to work Friday, he said, “Yes, exactly.”
“That’s not really helping my business, obviously, or any business.”
After the news conference, Barka told CNN he felt the federal response was “a serious overreach.”
“If I came into your place with a bunch of flak jackets and guns and so on and I said ‘I want to go in the back,’ you’re not going to say no,” the mayor said. “For them to go back there and begin to detain people and question people and ask for their papers, that’s an overreach.”
A migrant organizer with New Labor said Thursday’s action has left the community in Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood shaken and uncertain about what is to come next.
Ortiz said New Labor is still in the process of trying to confirm the identities of those who were detained and make contact with their families. The owner of Ocean Seafood Depot told New Labor the employees were recent hires.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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CNN’s Karina Tsui, Jeff Winter and Sarah Dewberry contributed to this story.