Paterson mayor working to help migrant families living in fear amid ICE raids
PATERSON, New Jersey (WABC) -- Some cities in New Jersey are helping to prepare residents for potential encounters with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
It comes as thousands have been arrested, detained or deported during President Trump's first week in office.
In Paterson, Mayor Andre Sayegh said federal immigration officials were in the city over the weekend.
According to reports, ICE agents targeted a barbershop and arrested at least one person there while detaining a woman who lived in an apartment above a Madison Avenue pharmacy.
Sayegh says families are living in fear they could be ripped apart.
"There are people in Paterson who are panicking, in fact a prominent priest called me yesterday and said there were parishioners that came to him crying tears of fear," Sayegh said.
The action follows three people being taken into custody by Homeland Security last week in Newark. And over the weekend, ICE agents were spotted in West New York at 7:30 a.m. checking mailboxes in a building at 61st Street and Harrison Place.
It is causing some families in Paterson to shut down their normal daily lives.
"People are not going to work, children are not going to school and people are reluctant to even go and visit their doctor," Sayegh said.
The mayor said his press conference Monday was an important conversation being had in many homes.
The New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice is teaching people that if ICE comes to their door, they do not have to let them in unless they have a warrant signed by a judge.
"You have rights, regardless of your citizenship status, regardless of your immigration status, regardless of the status of your loved ones," said Amy Torres, the executive director of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice.
Advocates say people also don't have to show identification to anyone without a warrant.
"ICE may seek to intimidate you with their badges, with their firearms, with their loud voice or with their brute force, but we have constitutional rights -- all of us," said Dante Apaesteguy, community response coordinator for the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice.
----------
* Get Eyewitness News Delivered
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News
Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.
