Newark ICE official explains what happens during and after raids in exclusive sit-down interview
NEWARK, New Jersey (WABC) -- Whether you agree with the arrests or not, there are plenty of questions about what happens leading up to the raids and what happens immediately after federal authorities take someone into custody.
Eyewitness News reporter Anthony Johnson sat down with the head of Newark's ICE office to get some answers surrounding the raids.
As ICE agents take another undocumented immigrant into custody, they are appreciating the support they are getting from the Trump administration and multiple federal agencies.
The head of the Newark ICE Enforcement and Removal field office, Director John Tsoukaris says the arrests are not done randomly.
"Every time we target someone, we're not just looking for anyone. We're targeting individuals that we know where they are," Tsoukaris said.
That's one of the reasons ICE operations are taking in more people than in the past.
"We've done a lot of investigation and case work ahead of time and surveillance or other law enforcement reviews of the case," Tsoukaris said.
ICE says they know exactly who they're looking to deport.
"We have a docket nationwide of like 7.8 million cases going through immigration court proceedings, one and a half million of those are orders of removal, which they were told to depart and have not departed," Tsoukaris said.
The recent arrests in Newark at the Ocean Seafood Depot were well planned and executed, he said.
"The three individuals that we took into custody for ICE custody were here illegally and one of them was previously deported. So we took him into custody and they'll go through immigration proceedings," Tsoukaris said.
In fact, two of the immigrants were released on bond. ICE says it maintains the highest standards when taking people into custody.
"There's a lot of oversight in terms of our legal department and our policies and procedures and our supervisors to ensure no one's rights are violated," Tsoukaris said.
The detainees are fingerprinted and processed at the location in Newark and then taken to the detention center over in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where some of them wait for a date before an immigration judge.
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