Immigration Raids in New Brunswick Thursday

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ - Update: After repeated emails, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials got back to Patch on Monday: They confirmed that six people were arrested on Thursday in New Brunswick, all of them for immigration violations. However, those arrested are members or associates of transnational gangs, said ICE spokesman Luis Martinez.

Immigration agents led a raid Thursday morning in New Brunswick where as many as 10 people were picked up and detained, an immigration advocate tells Patch. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed enforcement activity did take place, but would not give specifics.

"It started from about 5:30 a.m. and went until 10 a.m. yesterday," said Teresa Vivar with LAZOS America Unida, a New Brunswick-based advocacy group. "They were stopping people on the street as they were driving to work, going into homes and pulling people out."

She said family members told her seven people were detained, "but it could be up to 10. We don't know for sure until more family members reach out to us."

A spokesman with ICE's field office in Newark confirmed there was a targeted enforcement in New Brunswick Thursday, but did not release much beyond that: "ICE conducted a targeted enforcement action in New Brunswick today. This is an administrative action so information regarding the arrests are protected by the DHS privacy policy," was a statement ICE released to MyCentralJersey.com.

Details are still sketchy, but Vivar said agents pulled over vans carrying day laborers, stopped cars in the middle of the street and entered homes where there were babies inside and children getting ready for school. None of the agents showed warrants, she said.

"One car, they stopped them while they were driving; they did not have warrants to stop them," she said. "They just asked them to get out of the car. They asked them questions like, 'What are they doing? Where are they going to work? How long have they been in this country?' When they found people who had no documents, they were detained. This is what some families told us."

The raids took place along French Street, Sandford Street and Joyce Kilmer Avenue. She also said raids have been increasing in New Brunswick since Donald Trump was elected president, but that Thursday's was particularly bad.

"Last week they took three people," she said. "But it's never been like this before. They are going into people's homes now."

"The thing here right now is we want the rights of people respected," said Vivar. "If you have a warrant for someone, give it to them. But if you don't have a warrant, why do you have to scare people? We understand these agents are doing their jobs, but they have to do it with respect."

"People are scared; the women with children were shaking when they came into the homes," she added. "People are calling us to find out advice; they want to get more information on their cases. People want to know why agents were at their door."

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent arresting a suspect/Wikimedia Commons