Mayor, State Lawmakers Criticize ICE Raid in New Jersey’s Newark

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Washington on Jan. 18, 2025. Vincent Alban/Reuters

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided a New Jersey business establishment on Thursday, detaining illegal immigrants and a veteran, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said in a statement criticizing the move.

Baraka, who has celebrated New Jersey’s sanctuary city status in the past, claimed ICE agents did not have a warrant for the raids.

“Today, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided a local establishment in the City of Newark, detaining undocumented residents as well as citizens, without producing a warrant,” Baraka said.

“One of the detainees is a U.S. military veteran who suffered the indignity of having the legitimacy of his military documentation questioned. This egregious act is in plain violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees ‘the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.’

“Newark will not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorized.”

The mayor of the most populous city in New Jersey said he was prepared to defend and protect civil and human rights.

Neither Baraka nor ICE revealed how many people were arrested during Thursday’s raid or identified the business establishment, though Ocean Seafood Depot did not object to the claim in a Google review on Friday that it was its wholesale seafood business that ICE raided.

An ICE spokesperson told Reuters that agents “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.”

The spokesperson said that ICE was investigating the incident.

Baraka was not the only elected official to criticize the raid. Democrat state Rep. LaMonica Mclver also posted about the raid on social media on Thursday.

“Trump’s attacks on immigrants are already hitting home but we won’t back down,” she stated on X. “I will keep fighting to get answers from this administration.”

New Jersey state Sens. Andy Kim and Cory Booker, both Democrats, said in a joint statement that they were “deeply concerned.”

“Actions like this one sow fear in all of our communities—and our broken immigration system requires solutions, not fear tactics,” they stated.

The senators said their offices have contacted the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for answers and will continue to work with Baraka and other local officials.

Meanwhile, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Thursday that ICE has been busy with deporting illegal immigrants across the nation.

“The Trump Administration arrested 538 illegal immigrant criminals including a suspected terrorist, four members of the Tren de Aragua gang, and several illegals convicted of sex crimes against minors,” she wrote in a post on X.

ICE arrested 33 noncitizens in Newark during the course of a week-long targeted surge operation conducted from Dec. 9 to Dec. 13, 2024, by the agency’s Enforcement and Removals Operation (ERO) division.

“ICE ERO Newark targeted removable noncitizens determined to be a threat to national security, public safety, or border security,” said ERO Newark Field Office Director John Tsoukaris.

“I’m extremely proud of our deportation officers, who put their lives on the line around the clock to apprehend noncitizens who have proven they pose a threat to our communities. Our ERO officers carefully evaluate individuals every day, on a case-by-case basis, to make informed arrest determinations.”

In the December 2024 operation, which occurred during the Biden administration, ICE officers targeted noncitizens with felonies or misdemeanors for charges such as domestic violence, sexual abuse or exploitation, burglary, unlawful possession or use of a firearm, drug distribution or trafficking, and driving under the influence, as well as those subject to an order of removal who have reentered the United States illegally after being previously removed.