New Jersey Democrats and immigration activists vowed to fight against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies after eight people were detained Thursday in an ICE raid in Newark.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, members of Congress, state officials and migrant activists on Friday spoke at a news conference, where the mayor claimed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acted without a warrant and detained workers, including a U.S. military veteran.
“The problem with this is that none of these people were rapists, or murderers or criminals,” Baraka said. “The problem with it is that ICE went in there without a warrant.”
The mayor also said that Newark must remain a sanctuary city for migrants.
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“We don’t want an ICE detention in Newark. What we are concerned about is the erosion of the Constitution,” said Baraka.
Officials and immigration activists said that ICE agents detained four women, who were all mothers, and four men. The mayor said he was “appalled” to learn that those who were detained had been fingerprinted and had pictures of their IDs taken, and he accused ICE of violating the Fourth and 14th Amendment rights of those detained.
An ICE spokesperson previously said that a U.S. citizen who was detained was asked to produce identification.
“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,” an ICE spokesperson told Fox News in relation to Thursday’s Newark operation. “This is an active investigation, and, per ICE policy, we cannot discuss ongoing investigations.”
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ICE raids have ramped up across the country this week as Trump looks to clamp down on illegal immigration, a key campaign promise. Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan has said ICE agents will focus on the “worst first, public safety threats first, but no one is off the table. If they’re in the country illegally, they’ve got a problem.”
Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., called the ICE operation “despicable” and said the executive orders Trump signed to crack down on illegal immigration, including one that ended birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants, were “cruel.”
“Raids and attacks like what we witnessed in Newark yesterday does nothing to make people feel safer,” McIver said. “People should not have to fear that going to church or school will result in their arrest or deportation. Parents who have babies in our country should not be told that their child who is born here is not a citizen. That goes against our Constitution.”
The mayor and other officials who spoke said they will fight against Trump’s policies as the president carries out what he has called the largest “mass deportations” in U.S. history.
Asked if he is afraid of prosecution for refusing to cooperate, Baraka said he is not.
“If [Trump] thinks that we’re just going to go to jail quietly, he’s got another thing coming,” the mayor said.
