Officials accuse ‘ jackbooted thugs’ of warrantless searches under Trump adminisration’s anti-immigration agenda. Federal immigration authorities arrested at least one U.S. citizen and a military veteran during a raid inside a New Jersey fish market, according to city and state officials.
![[Signage opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement appeared in Chicago’s Little Mexico neighborhood, one of many communities across the country bracing for Trump’s immigration actions]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/24/15/2025-01-24T000602Z_1949192545_RC2YFCAJTIYB_RTRMADP_3_USA-TRUMP-MIGRATION-ENFORCEMENT.jpg)
Roughly one dozen Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrived unannounced at Ocean Seafood Depot on Thursday, without a warrant, demanding to see documents for employees. Agents made “no prior announcement” when they stormed into the market, “blocking entrances, scrambling up delivery ramps” and “banging on bathroom doors,” Amy Torres with New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice told reporters Friday.
![[Trump signed a series of executive orders on January 20 targeting immigration policy]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/24/15/bc8ea0e38a7b430090ca7657044f287b.jpg)
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said the “egregious” arrests were “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.’”.
“Newark will not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorized,” he said. A spokesperson for ICE told CBS News that officers “may encounter U.S. citizens while conducting field work and may request identification to establish an individual's identity as was the case during a targeted enforcement operation” in Newark.
A Newark field office declined to comment to The Independent citing policy against commenting on “ongoing investigations.”. “This type of sterile language suggests there was deep intel … there wasn’t supposed to be collateral damage,” Torres said. “Why was a U.S. citizen interrogated? Why was a military veteran’s credential and honor called into question? … ICE lies. … They use fear and racism to justify their presence, their profile and their power grabs.”.
