6 events in Passaic County with a date

ICE 'out of control' Booker fumes after Morris raid

By: William Westhoven
Morristown Daily Record
USA Today Network - New Jersey

MORRISTOWN - Ten days after federal ICE officers arrested 11 local residents, U.S. Senator Cory Booker came to the church where many of them worshiped and vowed to oppose funding for the "out of control: immigration agency.
..... Calling the ICE raid "a terrible breach of this community," the New Jersey Democrat joined Morristown Mayor Timothy dougherty and Pastor Duberney Villamizer in a news conference at St. Margaret of Scotland Church on Speedwell Avenue, just blocks from where the January 11 [2026] operation took place.
..... Booker unloaded on U.S. Immigration and Customs enforcement and its role in President Donald Trump's deportation push.
..... "We are now dealing with ICE out of control," Booker said. "I stand here in this community with community leaders to make it clear to everyone what ICE is doing is making us less safe. They're hurting our local businesses. They're undermining our way of life. They're violating our common sense of decency."

Who was detained?

..... The raid led to the arrest of 11 "illegal aliens, several with felony offenses," the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a statement last week. 01/14/2026] Others "took advantage of the Biden administration's open border crisis," Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS assistant secretary, said in the email.
..... "All individuals are currently detained, and either in removal proceedings or in the process of being removed from the Unites States in accordance with U.S. immigration laws," she said.
..... The agency so far has not released details about the alleged offenses. It has identified only one of those arrested: a 17-year-old Morristown High School student who returned home after a judge ordered his release while his case proceeds. McLaughlin said the teen was "an illegal alien form Honduras" and "an adult."
..... At the news conference, Booker's anger rose when he discussed the 6-year-old daughter of another of the detainees, Adonay Mancia Rodriquez, a Honduran national who has lived in Morristown since 22013. ICE agents arrested Mancia Rodriguez when he left his home to pick up a food delivery. His daughter was left alone in their apartment after the arrest and was found after she wandered outside for help, a neighbor told the Daily Record.
..... "Putting a child, an American child, in a situation that is so dangerous for them, that should be something that is against the law," Booker said. "When you put a child in danger, by taking away their parent with no concern or process for protecting that child, you are guilty of child endangerment. This is not just going on her in Morristown. This is going on across our country. It should outrage Americans."
..... Villamizar said "many" of the detainees were among his parishioners. The church is collecting resources for their families, he added.
..... He, Booker and Dougherty declined to name the individuals arrested, saying they needed to protect their privacy and safety. "We are doing everything we can to get clear information about individual cases," Booker said. "MY staff and I deal with hundreds of hundreds of them, as well as the overall policies bringing what I believe is such persecution to our communities.
..... "I'm very careful, though, about protecting the privacy of these individuals. In this world right now, people's names are being elevated, and they're becoming targets, not just of these law-enforcement actions, but other people ... that are trying to torment, not just immigrants, but minorities as well."

ICE center in Roxbury?

..... Booker's visit to Morris County also included a stop at the Roxbury warehouse recently scouted by ICE officials as the site of a possible immigrant processing center.
..... "New Jersey does not need any more ICE detention facilities,' Booker said. "The two has made it clear that they do not have the resources to support such a facility. They would put a drain on their emergency response team., to volunteer firefighters, [the] fire department,and would put a strain on their ability to provide sewer and water services to their town members."
..... Two existing ICE facilities in New Jersey - in Newark and Elizabeth - "are from all reports a horror show, tun and operated by for-profit entities and the government in a way that is violative of New Jersey's collective standards.
..... Roxbury's Township council voted unanimously on January 13 [2026] to oppose the sting of any ICE facility in the community, although some council members also stressed that they support the enforcement of U.S. mitigation laws.

Opposed to funding

..... Booker's takeaway from the two local ICE controversies was to declare, "I will not vote for funding for ICE going forward."
..... "They have not submitted themselves to what is fundamental for our government, which is the checks and balances provided by Congress," eh said. "They have not answered basic questions."
..... ICE's stepped-up activity in New Jersey has prompted a wave of protests in recent weeks. Hundreds gathered outside Morristown Town Hall on January 17 [2026] to support the 11 local detainees. The rumored Roxbury project has also drawn big crowds of opponents to council meetings and rallies.

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