Report Of ICE Raid In Princeton Were False: Report

PRINCETON, NJ — A recent social media post claiming that there was a large raid by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) have been disputed by local officials, according to Planet Princeton. There was already escalating anxiety in the immigrant community over recent raids in several states, including New Jersey, according to Latin American Legal Defense & Education Fund (LALDEF) Chair and Princeton University Professor of Sociology Patricia Fernández-Kelly.

But after a resident who belongs to a congregation that supports undocumented immigrants posted about "the deportation of the entire Guatemalan community en masse," much of the immigration community was afraid to leave their homes on Saturday, according to the report.

Later, the same resident stated there was no mass deportation, but an event that was bigger than a "targeted small raid," according to the report. However, local advocates and law enforcement denied there were any raids whatsoever, and the resident later admitted the raid may have taken place in another, nearby town.

There have been raids in nearby towns, including New Brunswick, where ICE says all six people who were picked up were part of international gangs.

But there has been just one reported case of an ICE raid in Princeton, that took place in February of last year. Local officials were concerned about the way that raid was handled because ICE agents were reported to have been waiting outside an apartment on Wiggins Street in the early morning hours, waiting for someone to exit. Two people ended up being taken into custody.

Local immigrants were wary after that incident, and the town did what it could to increase its education for residents about these raids.

Then came the volatile 2016 presidential election and concern over Republican Donald Trump's rhetoric about immigration. His subsequent victory led to questions about federal funding, as well as an increase in raids.

LALDEF and the Princeton University Center for Migration and Development (CMD) are co-hosting a meeting tackling issues related to immigration in just a few days, on Wednesday, May 24, 5 p.m.-7 p.m. at Nassau Presbyterian Church, 61 Nassau Street, in Princeton. For more information on that meeting, click here.

Patch file photo