NEWARK (BLOOMBERG) -- Newark’s Mayor and a Democratic Congresswoman for the district hit out at Immigration and Customs Enforcement after they said agents raided a business in the New Jersey city to detain undocumented residents without producing a warrant.
“Newark will not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorized,” Ras Baraka, a Democrat, said in a statement on Thursday, adding that one of the detainees is a US military veteran. LaMonica McIver, whose district includes Newark, said she contacted the Department of Homeland Security for a response on the question of the warrant and detention.
A spokeswoman for ICE said the agency didn’t immediately have a comment.
The Trump administration has arrested 538 undocumented people involved in criminal activities, including a suspected terrorist, four members of the Tren de Aragua gang, and several convicted of sex crimes against minors, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X on Thursday evening.
Leavitt also said that hundreds of immigrants who are criminals were deported on military aircraft.
“The largest mass deportation operation in history is well underway. Promises made. Promises kept,” Leavitt said.
The actions came after President Donald Trump and his border czar Tom Homan vowed a crackdown on illegal migration as soon as they assumed power this week.
Trump has vowed to target an estimated 11 million people who are in the country illegally. While he and Homan have repeatedly said they’ll start by focusing on violent criminals, anxiety has increased in some migrant communities, including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles over the prospect of massive raids sweeping up those without criminal records.
Immigration advocates around the country have been offering “know your rights” trainings for residents and in some places school children have been issued cards detailing what they should do if federal immigration agents come to their homes.
Separately, Trump has ordered a new deployment of military troops to the border to help block migrants from crossing illegally. The Defense Department said at least four military planes will also be used to help carry out deportations of about 5,000 detained migrants from El Paso and San Diego.