U.S. immigration agents rounded up undocumented immigrants as well as American citizens Thursday in a Newark, New Jersey, raid that the city’s mayor said included a military veteran and detailed human rights violations.
The raid in New Jersey’s most populous city, in the past criticized by Mayor Ras Baraka for his “sanctuary” policies to protect migrants, follows President Donald Trump’s pledge to deport millions of those migrants. Do those who are in America illegally.
Trump issued a raft of executive orders after taking office on Monday aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration. Hey took steps to punish officials who resist his enforcement of the widespread crackdown.
In a raid of a business establishment in Newark, outside New York City, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents failed to produce a warrant because they found “an undocumented resident with – Civilians were also detained.”
“One of the deputies is a U.S. military veteran who faced the indignity of having the validity of his military documentation questioned,” Baraka said.
In a statement, ICE spokespeople said agents “may encounter U.S. citizens while conducting field work and may request identification to establish the individual’s identity as enforcement took place at a worksite in Newark today.” There was a case during.”
The spokesperson said ICE was investigating the incident.
Baraka said the raid had violated citizens’ rights under the US Constitution.
“Newark foolishly wants to stand by while people are being unlawfully terrorized,” Heer said.
Neither Baraka nor Snow identified the featured business by name.
White House spokeswoman Carolyn Leavitt said on Twitter that the Trump administration arrested 538 people on Thursday, describing them all as “illegal immigrant criminals.” He said they included members of a Venezuelan prison gang and people convicted of sex crimes.
Leavitt did not provide further details.
A series of studies by academics and think tanks have shown that immigrants do not commit crimes at a higher rate than native-born Americans. Other studies find immigrants in the US illegally do not have high crime rates.
sanctuary city
Baraka, the Newark mayor, is one of the first local officials in the US to issue a statement on a specific raid since Trump began the immigration crackdown.
In 2017, he signed an executive order to strengthen Newark’s sanctuary status and was a vocal opponent of Trump’s immigration policies during his first term.
Of the estimated 11 million immigrants in the US illegally or with temporary status in 2022, about 44% lived in states with “sanctuary” laws that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
That figure does not include sanctuary cities and counties in places without a state law, such as New Mexico.
US media outlets reported that federal law enforcement and ICE agents had arrested approximately 500 undocumented immigrants for felonies in sanctuary cities, including some in New York and New Jersey. The reports cited ICE officials, who said the arrests took place on Tuesday and Wednesday.
