CNN
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A New Jersey mayor said his city was “unlawfully terrorized” after federal agents arrested several people Thursday in what Immigration and Customs Enforcement called “a targeted enforcement operation.”
Officers “searched” a local business and arrested “undocumented residents as well as citizens, without producing a warrant,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said in a statement.
“One of the detainees is a U.S. military veteran who suffered the indignity of having the legitimacy of his military documents called into question,” he added.
CNN was unable to independently verify the details of the mayor’s statements.
Julia Ortiz, an immigration organizer with New Labor, a local immigration rights group in Newark, told CNN that eight people were questioned and three were arrested by agents.
Ortiz said the group was informed of the action by an Ocean Seafood Depot employee who called them to say immigration agents had shown up unannounced at their workplace.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson confirmed Thursday that a U.S. citizen was involved, but declined to comment further on the ongoing investigation.
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement may encounter U.S. citizens during field work and may request identification to establish an individual’s identity, as has been the case during a targeted enforcement operation at a construction site today in Newark, New Jersey,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The arrests come as the new Trump administration moves to crack down on immigration and reverse Biden-era policies that President Donald Trump says have led to an influx of undocumented immigrants. The White House announced the first deportation flights from Texas on Friday, as more troops were sent to the U.S. southern border with Mexico.
The Trump administration on Wednesday laid out plans to challenge so-called “sanctuary city” laws by threatening to sue state and local officials who resist federal immigration crackdowns, according to a copy of the department’s memo. of Justice obtained by CNN.
A law enforcement source briefed on the investigation in Newark told CNN that Thursday’s enforcement action was in response to a report of unauthorized workers at a place of business.
The action was led by Homeland Security Investigations, the federal law enforcement agency within the Department of Homeland Security, and was not initiated by ICE, the source said. It is unclear when the information was reported to HSI, they added.
During workplace enforcement actions, HSI officials typically ask to see people’s identification documents to confirm that they are authorized to work. CNN contacted HSI to determine if a warrant had been issued prior to the search.
Surveillance video obtained by CNN from a nearby business shows several federal agents walking around the corner of the seafood distributor and placing at least one person in the back of a vehicle.
At a news conference Friday, Baraka called the federal response to the detentions “cavalier” and said that since speaking out, he has been accused of harboring “rapists and murderers” in the city.
“The problem is, none of these people were rapists, murderers or criminals. The problem is ICE went in there without a warrant,” Baraka said.
Although people can disagree and debate immigration policies, Baraka said everyone in the United States is entitled to the protections of the Fourth and 14th Amendments to the Constitution.
“Everyone has the right to due process,” he said. “It’s a slippery slope when we think it’s OK to suspend the Constitution of the United States in order to make a political point or statement.”
The owner of the fish market where the enforcement took place says he fears it will hurt his business, according to CNN affiliate WCBS.
Speaking to the media outlet, the owner of Ocean Seafood Depot said about a dozen agents arrived at the market around 11 a.m. Thursday, asking to see his employees’ documents.
Three people were arrested, he told WCBS.
“A few guys couldn’t show their ID,” the owner said. “In twenty-six years of activity, I have never seen anything like this.”
Asked if the incident would deter his other employees from coming to work on Friday, he replied: “Yes, exactly.”
“It doesn’t really help my business, obviously, or any other business.”
After the press conference, Barka told CNN he believed the federal response was “a serious overreach.”
“If I showed up at your house with a bunch of bulletproof vests, guns, etc. and said, ‘I want to go to the back,’ you wouldn’t say no,” said the mayor. “For them to go back there and start arresting people, interrogating them and asking them for their papers, that’s an excessive measure.”
A New Labor migrant organizer said Thursday’s action left the community in Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood shaken and uncertain about what would come next.
Ortiz said New Labor was still trying to confirm the identities of those arrested and make contact with their families. The owner of Ocean Seafood Depot told New Labor the employees were recent recruits.
This story has been updated with additional information.