The Trump administration is coming under fire for an immigration raid in New Jersey that detained an American citizen who is also a military veteran.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided a NewarkNew Jersey, business on Thursday. According to Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, “one of the detainees is a U.S. military veteran who suffered the indignity of having the legitimacy of his military documentation questioned.”
The raid comes just a few days after Donald Trump signed a flurry of anti-migrant executive orders as his administration and congressional Republicans plan to implement a policy of mass deportation. In an interview with longtime Trump admirer Sean Hannity on Fox News, Trump said his policy is focused on migrants who pose a security threat, which can be determined by merely looking at people.
“Open borders with people pouring in. Some of whom, I won’t get into it, but you can look at them and you can say, ‘Could be trouble, could be trouble,” Trump said. Trump is a racist who has expressed anti-migrant sentiment for years, largely targeting brown-skinned members of minority groups.
Baraka explained this “egregious act is in plain violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” referring to protection against unreasonable search and seizure.
“Newark will not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorized,” he added.
New Jersey Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman described the raid as “unconstitutional” and evidence of “the reality of Trump’s reign of terror.”
In a joint statementNew Jersey Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim said they were “deeply concerned” about the raid and that they have reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, for answers.
“Actions like this one sow fear in all of our communities—and our broken immigration system requires solutions, not fear tactics,” the senators added.
Veteran groups previously expressed concern about Trump’s actions against migrants before the New Jersey incident.
As part of the administration’s anti-immigration efforts, ICE has been given the power to rapidly deport migrants who are legally in the country, including those granted temporary protected status under the Biden administration.
In a letter addressed to Trump, veterans’ groups expressed fear that the crackdown would endanger the safety of interpreters who had helped the military during the war in Afghanistan, as well as their families, now living in America.
Trump is implementing the immigration policy he has long touted and Republicans are on board with it, but just a few days in and veterans are already among the people who are in the crosshairs.
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