ICE Raids: NJ Prison Gets Surprise Visit From 3 Congress Members

NEW JERSEY — Three U.S. congress members from New Jersey paid a surprise visit to the Elizabeth Detention Center on Monday, demanding more information from the feds in the wake of a controversial federal immigration raid.

U.S. Reps. LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Rob Menendez Jr. (NJ-8), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) said they made an unannounced trip to the prison, which the state’s only operational privately contracted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided a seafood business in Newark last week, igniting a firestorm of controversy that has many community members speaking out in fear and anger – and others applauding for President Donald Trump.

Three undocumented residents were detained during the “warrantless” raid. Federal immigration agents also detained multiple U.S. citizens, fingerprinting them and taking photos of their faces and IDs. They included a U.S. military veteran who showed the officers his military identification – but was detained and questioned anyway. Read More: ICE Immigration Raid In Newark Shocks New Jersey (5 Things To Know)

A family member of one of the detainees said her cousin was taken to the Elizabeth Detention Center in Union County after his arrest.

Under a 2021 state law, all prisons in New Jersey – public or private – are banned from making new contracts with ICE to hold federal detainees. Prisons also can’t expand or renew old agreements.

But since then, both CoreCivic and GEO Group have challenged the law in court, and a judge ruled in 2023 that CoreCivic could keep its jail in Elizabeth open. Federal authorities and private prison companies are reportedly seeking to add more detention space in New Jersey, despite the state’s ban. Read More: ICE Plans Major Detention Facility Expansion In NJ

When congress members visited the prison on Monday to make a surprise inspection, they were denied access and delayed for nearly an hour, McIver said.

“Once inside, we questioned agents and saw the facility, but we still need more answers for our community on ICE activity and raids,” the congresswoman said.

According to McIver, the federal agency’s actions in Newark have threatened and scared people across New Jersey.

“We are just getting started in the work to hold ICE accountable and demand answers about the safety of our neighbors,” she said.

Menendez said the trio were exercising their oversight authority as members of Congress, and trying to “safeguard the legal and constitutional rights” of detainees – which they will continue to do.

Watson Coleman accused the Trump Administration of creating “chaos, confusion and cruelty.”

“They've created a climate of fear and use that fear to mask their efforts to take away core rights,” the congresswoman charged. “We need to join together across racial differences to demand a fair and safe immigration process for all families. Meanwhile, it’s also important that we exercise Congress's oversight role to ensure detainees are treated fairly and humanely.”

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