Newark mayor criticizes ICE raid on seafood distributor

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided a seafood distributor in Newark, New Jersey, detaining three employees including a military veteran, sparking fear in the food industry and drawing the ire of city officials.

This comes amid President Donald Trump’s vow to crack down on immigration, which has sent shockwaves through communities across the board. immigrants play a crucial role. Newark’s mayor called the move “egregious” in a statement.

Ocean Seafood Depot Raid – a family restaurant supplier founded in 1998 — took place Thursday in which agents entered the back of the building and detained the distributor’s warehouse manager, a Puerto Rican (Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens) and a military veteran, co-owner Luis Janota told the New York PIX11 News.

Janota said 10 to 12 ICE agents entered the company after receiving a complaint and requesting employee records. He said agents appeared to target Hispanic workers and did not question workers who appeared to be white.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka he said he was terrified by the raid.

“How do you tell who is undocumented and who is a criminal just by looking at the person?” said Baraka, who is black, at a news conference Friday. “If we allow people to categorize us just based on our appearance, we will go back to a time that was very dangerous for this country, especially for people who look like me. This kind of conversation in America is not democracy.”

The raid followed an executive order signed by Trump on his first day in office, allowing federal immigration authorities to make arrests in sensitive places, including churches, hospitals and schools.

» READ MORE: ICE has been given the freedom to make arrests in churches. More immigrants found refuge in Philadelphia than anywhere else.

On social media across the Northeast, restaurant workers urged their peers to do the same know your rights when it comes to ICE raids, including the right to remain noiseless and refuse to be searched.

Industry experts to talk mass raids and deportations in the restaurant industry can lead to labor shortages that will impact restaurants’ ability to survive.

“I have the impression that we must be a country of laws, but we must prosecute bad people, not working people” – Janota he said. “These are family people. These are people who come to work every day.

American sense. Andy Kim AND Cory Bookerboth New Jersey Democrats, released statements condemning the Newark raid, including ICE’s treatment of a detained military veteran. Janota he said three employees were detained and some were given dates to appear before a judge, but provided no details. Baraka said many immigrants and American citizens were detained, fingerprinted and photographed.

“[The veteran] suffered the humiliation of having his military records questioned,” Baraka said, adding that the raid “was a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees ‘the right of the people to be secure in their personal, home, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and “confiscations”

ICE said in a statement that agents may ask for identification to determine someone’s identity, but declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation.

On Friday press conference along with other elected officials, religious leaders and immigrant-serving organizations, Baraka condemned the raid and pledged community support.

“We can’t let this happen, we have to at least say something,” the mayor said. “As a result, I received a series of not-so-nice emails.”

“We can disagree on political issues. You may disagree with me on the role that immigrants play in the economy… on the fact that most immigrants are not criminals,” Baraka said. “But what we have to agree on is what sets this country apart from other countries is the Constitution of the United States.”

U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) and other officials said New Jersey was prepared through training sessions and resources Down his immigrants. New Jersey state senator Teresa Ruiz tearfully expressed fear that the raids would extend to children’s classrooms. “New Jersey is one of six states where illegal immigrants reside contribute over $1 billion in taxes annually,” Ruiz said. “Man’s capabilities are far greater than anything else.”

According to ICEas of Thursday, the agency had arrested more than 530 people and detained more than 370, but did not provide a time frame for these numbers. ICE did not detail where the raids took place, but news outlets did reported raids on states including New Jersey, New York and Maryland. NBC reported that officials said they would focus on major metropolises was probable.

“Newark will not stand idly by while people are unlawfully terrorized,” Baraka said. “We will stand for democracy and fight on behalf of all the people of this city.”

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