According to the mayor of the township, an ICE raid at an Edison warehouse on Wednesday morning resulted in the arrest of 29 persons.
An advocacy group called New Labor, located in New Brunswick, released a video that depicts immigration and customs enforcement officials as well as customs and border protection officers at Smart Logistics and Freight Solutions, the company that houses FedEx, UPS, and Amazon.
CBP personnel were followed into the facility by ICE officers, according to Amanda Dominguez of New Labor. Since the warehouse at 65 Patrick Avenue is a CBP-bonded business, CBP officers are permitted entry.
Although NJ Advance Media’s request for comment was acknowledged, ICE did not immediately respond.
Township officials were notified of the planned raid before it took place, according to Edison Mayor Sam Joshi.
According to Dominguez, ICE officers showed up at 10 a.m., stepped out of an unmarked car, and went up to a security booth guard. The security guy was then ordered to turn over his walkie-talkie and open the gate.
Then, according to her, ICE authorities barged into the warehouse and started evicting employees.
They have a contract that permits them to visit and inspect the items in the warehouse because it is a Customs and Border Patrol-bonded facility, but the issue currently is that they are keeping the door open for their ICE counterparts, which is against the law, Dominguez said. To go out and carry out ICE activities, ICE still requires a judge-signed warrant.
Wristbands were issued to employees who could produce proper documentation, while others were placed in unmarked vans and removed, according to Dominguez.
According to Dominguez, ICE investigators also utilized drones inside the warehouse to look for employees who might have been hiding in the scaffolding. The arrests were not carried out by CBP personnel.
Family members were not informed by ICE about the whereabouts of their loved ones’ removal.
According to Dominguez, three persons were hurt during the raid, including one employee who was dragged to the ground and handcuffed by an ICE officer and another who was observed bleeding from his torso. A third suffered injuries in an unintentional fall.
According to Dominguez, family members are left in the dark about what is happening to their loved ones and are not receiving any direction. Yesterday was a very violent day. I simply want to draw attention to how violent this was and the fact that working-class people are being attacked as well as members of the immigrant community.
According to Dominguez, there are roughly 80 sites in New Jersey and New York that are bonded by Customs and Border Protection, and further raids may occur.
An estimated 20 persons were detained when ICE searched Alba Wines and Spirits, another CPB-bonded establishment in Edison, in July.
The Trump administration was chastised for the most recent raid by U.S. Representative Frank Pallone (D-5), whose district includes Edison.
Pallone said in a statement on Thursday that President Trump is once again invading workplaces and terrorizing our neighborhoods. Trump continues to claim that he is only deporting or detaining gangsters and dangerous criminals. The raid in Edison yesterday is another evidence that his administration will violate the law without a warrant. In order to make a political statement, armed agents swept in and rounded up our neighbors without notice or reason while the warehouse workers were simply attempting to do their jobs.
ICE authorities carried out a raid on Bayard Street in Trenton on Thursday morning in addition to the one they carried out in Edison on Wednesday.
Although Trenton police did not take involved in the incident, footage shows patrol car cops keeping an eye on the area. A local community group member kept asking ICE officers if they had a warrant, so ICE called Trenton police, Dominguez said.
Officers informed Radio Jornalera NJ representatives that they were not involved in the raid when they questioned Trenton police about their presence.
The activists responded, “You are getting involved because you’re telling us to leave,” to their claim that we weren’t getting involved.
According to Dominguez, one activist was taken into custody.
Requests for comment were not immediately answered by the mayor’s office or Trenton police.
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