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Massive arrests expected of undocumented immigrants did not occur over the weekend, but at least one resident of New Jersey said that immigration agents knocked on her door in the middle of the night .
The New York Times reported that the teenager from Passaic had said to be up around 1 am Sunday at the ICE agents knocking on her door. But she refused to answer after seeing a "know your rights" message on Instagram.
"They said:" We need to talk to you, can you go out, can you open the door? "I said:" Do you have permission to go home? " , do you have a newspaper? " The teenager, who has not been named, told the New York Times. "They said," We do not try to get into your house, we just want to talk with you. "And I said," No, I do not come to the outside. "
The agents reportedly returned at around 5 am, but the teenager refused to answer and hid with her parents on the floor until they left, according to the report.
Make the Road New Jersey, a local immigrant advocacy group, told NJ Advance Media that they were working with teenager Passaic and that they had confirmed her story.
Officials from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined to comment Monday morning on the issue of whether there had been arrests or attempted arrests in New Jersey on Sunday, scheduled to date. Launch of a national campaign aimed at targeting undocumented immigrants being the subject of an eviction order.
In a statement, officials at the ICE office in Newark said that they would not say much about the planned raids.
"Due to the sensitivity of the security forces and the security of Immigration and US Customs personnel, the agency will not provide specific details regarding the operations of the United States. control. As always, ICE gives priority to arresting and eliminating illegal aliens who pose a threat to national security, public security and border security, "said ICE officials.
The raids, promised by President Donald Trump, should target immigrants illegally settled in the country in several cities: Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Francisco. It was reported that New Orleans and Houston were removed from the list because the cities were grappling with the consequences of Tropical Storm Barry, which had hit the area over the weekend.
According to reports, the raids may have been delayed or reduced due to the intense attention carried by the media on the operation. Some expect the operation to be deployed slowly over the next week, instead of massive arrests nationwide.
Scattered reports of CIE agents were spotted throughout the country over the weekend, but no large-scale operation was reported.
In New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio's office said that the ICE had tried three times to detain people in East Harlem and Sunset Park over the weekend. But no arrests have been made.
Although no massive arrests have been reported nationwide over the weekend, New Jersey immigrant rights advocates say they're gearing up for any eventualities. raids over the coming week, while tensions persist in immigrant communities.
Make the Road lawyers in New Jersey said they continued to make "know your rights" presentations with immigrant groups and set up a phone line to answer your questions.
"We know your rights brigades to talk to community members in Elizabeth and Passaic," said Sara Cullinane, director of Make the Road New Jersey.
The mayor of Passaic, Hector Lora, and the head of the municipal police posted a video on Facebook Sunday in English and Spanish, indicating that unconfirmed information had been reported by residents of CIE agents in the city, striking at doors and questioning people in the street.
"Of course, this creates a panic," said Lora.
No mass attacks have been reported in the Passaic, which has a large immigrant community, Lora said. He also denied the rumor that a routine traffic control point in the city was an ICE operation.
Passaic police chief Luis Guzman proposed sending the city police to any residence where immigrants thought ICE agents were knocking on the door.
"We will send a patrol car out there to check who these people are – to make sure they are – or are not – a type of law enforcement," Guzman said in the video. "Obviously, there are people who are trying to instill fear in our community. It's really, really unfair. "
By virtue of an order of the Attorney General of the State coming into force this year, the New Jersey local police is not authorized to assist ICE agents to raid and can not retain undocumented immigrants for ICE only in limited circumstances.
It is unclear whether New Jersey was one of the areas ICE targeted, but local groups of immigrant advocates said they were ready to mobilize. Some organized protests over the weekend and the local faith group Faith in New Jersey organized a training session to teach their rights to immigrants when they were approached by ICE agents.
The ICE operation would target around 2,000 undocumented immigrants in the country with existing deportation orders that have not been executed. But government officials said that there could be "collateral" arrests, which means that some untargeted immigrants could be arrested if they were close to arrest. other.
Newark mayor Ras J. Baraka said that the largest city in the state reminded employees that it was against municipal policy that local authorities should assist ICE in raids in any way. The city is also trying to help immigrants targeted by ICE.
"We are working proactively with our partners, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Newark Interfaith Alliance and La Casa de Don Pedro, to ensure that individuals know what action to take when they find themselves. in this situation, "said Baraka in a statement. .
"President Trump's efforts are designed to spread hatred, break our community, separate families and divide us further," he added.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Matthew Albence, acting director of ICE, declined to say whether there would be raids next week or if the planned operation had been reduced.
"I will not say anything that could put my officers in danger," said Albence. "Operationally, we will never release details that would put our officers at greater risk than they already are in this toxic environment."
Kelly Heyboer can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @ KellyHeyboer. Find it at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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