A US Border Patrol officer deploys on the Rio Grande on a patrol of the US-Mexico border at Eagle Pass, Texas, on January 24, 2025. US President Donald Trump ordered 1,500 more active military personnel to the border with Mexico as part of a flurry of steps to tackle immigration, his spokeswoman said on January 22. Border security is a key priority for the president, who declared a national emergency at the US frontier with Mexico on his first day in office, and the additional personnel will bring the total number of active-duty troops deployed there to around 4,000. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)
NEWARK, United States — The mayor of a major US city said Friday that immigration officers raided a seafood business, detaining undocumented migrants alongside an American citizen as President Donald Trump pressed actions against undocumented people and deployed troops to the Mexican border.
Trump has pledged a crackdown on migrants with the White House reporting that agents arrested 538 undocumented people on Thursday, with hundreds removed from the country on military aircraft.
Article continues after this advertisementNewark Mayor Ras Baraka said that a US Army veteran was among those detained in an overnight raid on Ocean Seafood Depot that marked a resumption of workplace raids, suspended under former president Joe Biden.
FEATURED STORIES GLOBALNATION Trump's deportation operation underway, hundreds of migrants arrested GLOBALNATION Bersamin: PH won’t change ICC stance, will cooperate via Interpol GLOBALNATION PH may hand over ICC suspects to Interpol“Some ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents raided a business in our city without a warrant,” Baraka told a briefing, adding that a military veteran who held US citizenship was questioned during the operation.
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“The problem with this is that none of these people were rapists or murderers or criminals — the problem is that ICE went in without a warrant.”
Article continues after this advertisementNewark, New Jersey, like other major cities including New York, is a sanctuary city meaning local officials and law enforcement do not typically cooperate with federal immigration agents as a matter of policy.
Article continues after this advertisementTrump has threatened to curb federal funding for cities that uphold sanctuary policies.
Article continues after this advertisementImmigration enforcement agents used raids on businesses and workplaces during Trump’s first term, with the newly-inaugurated president vowing to resume them, and to conduct operations at schools, churches, and hospitals — also off-limits under Biden.
“They caught three guys… everybody is afraid, I don’t know if this is normal. They were from Ecuador I think,” a witness to the Newark raid who declined to be named told NBC News.
Article continues after this advertisementLast year under Biden there were 270,000 deportations in total, which was a 10-year high alongside 113,400 arrests.
On his first day in office, Trump signed orders declaring a “national emergency” at the southern border and announced the deployment of more troops to the area, vowing to deport “criminal aliens.”
Active service troops began arriving on the US-Mexico border Friday, images showed, with soldiers working to build structures and barracks.
There are an estimated 11 million undocumented migrants in the United States, according to the Office of Homeland Security Statistics.
Amy Torres, executive director of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, said “people are scared.”
“We knew this was going to happen, and what we learned from folks that stayed behind was that ICE walked in like it was their empire’s own conquered land,” she said.
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“They were heavily armedbbc or big baller club, there was no prior announcement. They were blocking off entrances and exits.”
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