ICE raids, detainments carried out at business in Newark without 'warrant,' Mayor Baraka says
Among the detainees were a military vet and undocumented residents, Mayor Baraka says
NEWARK, New Jersey (WABC) -- Reports of ICE detaining migrants have rattled cities like Newark, New Jersey, where the mayor revealed that agents carried out a raid at a business on Thursday.
The federal raid at Ocean Seafood Depot in Newark's Ironbound section caught its owner Luis Janota by surprise.
He told Eyewitness News that agents asked for documentation for three workers and took them into custody when they couldn't provide it.
"I feel like we have to be a country of law, but we have to go after bad people, not working people," Janota said. "These are family people. These are people who show up to work every day."
ICE Newark said in a statement, "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."
There's no word yet from ICE of Homeland Security as to why these individuals were detained, but the move has infuriated local officials.
Congresswoman LaMonica McIver of New Jersey's 10th District, said her office has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security to get answers on how ICE was allowed to come in "without warrant and without justification-to detain not only immigrants, but citizens and even a veteran of our nation's military."
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka says that veteran "suffered the indignity of having the legitimacy of his military documentation questioned."
He insisted that there was no warrant for the arrest.
"This egregious act is in plain violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees 'the right of the people be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures," he said. "Newark will not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorized."
NYU Law professor Ryan Goodman says ICE can detain people on a public sidewalk, but "can't go into private locations without a warrant that's been approved by a judge."
"If it's a private part of the business or it's the back rooms in the business where the workers are, they're not allowed without a warrant," he said. "So when the mayor says that this was without a warrant, that is a serious concern."
New Jersey Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman also took issue with the detention of the military veteran, slamming President Donald Trump, and saying "this is the reality of Trump's reign of terror, but it's not the America generations have fought for."
Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim both reacted after learning of the raid, saying in joint statement, "Actions like this one sow fear in all of our communities -- and our broken immigration system requires solutions, not fear tactics."
Mayor Baraka said he will have more to say about this at a press conference on Friday.
Thursday's raid in Newark comes as federal law enforcement and ICE agents have arrested over 500 undocumented migrants wanted for outstanding crimes in sanctuary cities, including three in New York.
That's where ICE agents arrested an alleged El Salvadorian MS-13 gang member, a Jamaican citizen who had been arrested for sexual exploitation of a minor and a Honduran citizen with a drunk driving conviction.
There were similar scenes in Boston, Denver, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Seattle, Miami, and Washington, DC.
In a post on X, ICE said they had made 538 arrests, but did not provide a time frame of when they were made.
"Border czar" Tom Homan recently promised to carry out "big raids" in sanctuary cities across the country, but sources told ABC News that the enforcement operations playing out this week were routine arrests.
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut -- plus the District of Columbia and San Francisco -- are among 22 states that sued in federal court to block Trump's order ending birthright citizenship to children of parents who are in the United States illegally.
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