Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka said that U.S. citizens were among those caught up in Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids within the city.
The raids occurred as the Trump administration has touted stepped-up immigration enforcement since President Donald Trump took office earlier this week. On Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted a photo of a military airplane with the caption, “Deportation flights have begun. President Trump is sending a strong and clear message to the entire world: if you illegally enter the United States of America, you will face severe consequences.”
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It is unclear if the cadence of deportations is higher now than under President Joe Biden. According to ICE’s most recent available data, it conducted 154,204 arrests and 81,547 removals in 2022.
Although arrests and removals were daily occurrences during the Biden administration, President Trump has made immigration enforcement a key theme of his presidency.
“Today, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided a local establishment in the City of Newark, detaining undocumented residents as well as citizens, without producing a warrant. One of the detainees is a U.S. military veteran who suffered the indignity of having the legitimacy of his military documentation questioned. This egregious act is in plain violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees ‘the right of the people be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,” Baraka said.
Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim released a joint statement saying they were "deeply concerned" by the raids and added "actions like this one sow fear in all of our communities."
The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for proposals to fast-track deportations. President Trump signed an executive order that requires noncitizens to prove they have been in the U.S. for at least two years to avoid deportation.
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