Ras Baraka and other state lawmakers express outrage as sanctuary cities nationwide brace for similar Ice actions. The mayor of Newark, New Jersey, said an immigration raid in the city was done without a warrant, and led to the detainment of undocumented residents as well as citizens.
![[New Jersey attorney general announces effort to block Trump's birthright citizenship order – video ]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/c0ce95f3d12da00b9218d8f7fbe82e59ece6f151/0_0_1920_1080/1920.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Newark mayor Ras Baraka said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) had raided a local establishment. “Newark will not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorized,” he wrote in a statement. The mayor’s announcement came as major cities across the US braced for Ice raids, as promised by Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan, who has said the federal government will uphold Trump’s promise of “mass deportations”. Homan has signaled that so-called sanctuary cities – localities that have refused to hand over immigrants to federal authorities – would be early targets for raids.
Ice announced it has made a total of 538 arrests in a Thursday update. The agency did not immediately respond to the Guardian’s query about when and where in the US the arrests were made. Trump’s press secretary later said in a post on X that 538 “illegal immigrant criminals” had been arrested and that “hundreds” had been deported by military aircraft.
“The largest massive deportation operation in history is well underway. Promises made. Promises kept,” Karoline Leavitt said. The numbers are not necessarily exceptional – the agency averaged more than 450 arrests a day in 2023, when Joe Biden was president, for instance. But the agency’s movements have drawn particular focus amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Since taking office on Monday, the president has unleashed a barrage of immigration orders and policy changes, including guidance that immigration officers will be allowed conduct enforcement at sensitive locations such as schools and churches.
