6 events in Passaic County with a date

ICE ramps up migrant arrests, tactics across NJ

Videos capture force; calls for help surge

By: Hannan Adely
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

In Passaic, five immigration officers tackle and take him away as he calls a friend to bring his ID.
..... In Harrison, a man is dragged from the driver's seat of a vehicle, while his wife, a U.S. citizen shouts: "Stop. It's my husband.
..... In North Bergen agents cuff a man face down in a city park.
..... the arrests, captured on video, are part of what advocates and officials say is a sharp escalation in immigration enforcement since late June. [2026] the reported surge coincides with a national push by the Trump administration to ramp up arrest.
..... Across New Jersey, immigrant advocates say they are seeing a spike in vehicle stops, workplace arrests and street detentions. A statewide hot-line that tracks ICE activity said calls have doubled.
..... "we've seen a steep increase," said Ellen Whitt, coordinator of the DIRE hot-line, operated by the nonprofit Deportation and Immigration Response Equipo. "It's about doubled - the number of calls we get per day. We were getting 15 to 20. It's been 40. It's been in one day."
..... "They come from all over New Jersey, but we see a concentrated number that have been in Hackensack, Plainfield, Freehold and Lakewood.
..... ICE referred a request for comment to the Department of Homeland Security, which did not respond.
..... The agency has not released its biweekly report showing arrest and detention numbers since early April. [2026] the Washington Post, which obtained unpublished data, reported a daily average of 1,400 arrests in the first 12 days of July [2026] - on pace to be the most arrest in a single month of the Trump administration.
..... The increase in New Jersey comes as the Trump administration accelerates its nationwide deportation campaign. In June, [2026] Congress approved an extra $70 billion for ICE. The agency reconnect hired hundreds of additional offices to expand operations nationwide.
..... Federal officials say the expanded operations are needed for public safety, uphold the rule of law and protect U.S. resources.
..... The enforcement push is palpable across New Jersey's immigrant communities, advocates and officials say. It's not just the numbers that have changed, they say, but also the approach.
..... "ICE was there every day in the past week," Passaic mayor Hector Lora said about the agency's presence in his city. "before, they were going after a snooper on a target list. Now, it appears to be whoever [they can get]."
..... Lora said people had been stopped on the street or in their cars and asked for their identification.
..... While such stops are a new tactic, they have become more common, say immigrant advocates.
..... They're targeting people in [work] vans, people at Home Depot," said Haydi Torres of Movimiento Cosecha, an immigrate advocacy group. "Elizabeth, Trenton, Lakewood, dover, Hackensack, Passaic, Paterson, Newark - all the cities wheer there's a Latino immigrant community."
.... Torres said she ahas gotten about 10 calls a day for help in the past three weeks "from families saying my loved one was taken." Torres said she used to get about one or two calls a day.
..... Glendy Tsitouras, an organizer with the American Friends Service committee, described an encounter on July 11, [2026] where she said ICE detained five people at a bus stop in Union county who were headed to work. they included people with open asylum case, she said.
..... "It's happening everywhere," she said. "We're seeing it in public places, like train stations, bus stations, on the corners where day laborers gather."
..... Officials and advocates have raised alarm about what they describe as unceasingly aggressive tactics.
..... "Simply stopping individuals in the street without probable cause, especially if the goal is to just verify somebody's status - how can you tell someone is potentially not a citizen>" Lora said. "This goes against everything our nation stands for."
..... "They're deciding people don't have due process and can be detained -s saying figure it out when you're detained.
..... Whitt worried about the expanded sue of vehicle stops, where "a bunch of masked people surround you in unmarked cars."
..... "We have had a lot of people report that they had their windows smashed in these operations," she said, describing it as "violent and extreme."
..... "They not only take the driver," she added, "But everybody in the vehicle. There's a lot of targeting of construction vehicles."
..... The Department of Homeland Security temporarily suspended most stops after two fatal shootings -a decision President Donald Trump quickly reversed.
..... Johan Sebastian Duran Gueerero, 25, was shot and killed on July 13 [2026] in Biddeford, Maine. DHS said the Colombian man tried to flee the scene during a traffic stop, and an officer fired "fearing for public safety."
..... Six days earlier, ICE offices fatally shot Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during a stop in Houston. Federal officials alleged he tired to ram agents with his car, but witnesses dispute that account.

Community on edge

..... The rise in arrests has sowed fear in communities.
..... People are scared," Lora said. "No one is saying there has to be a better way than this."
..... Torres said some immigrants are avoiding everyday activities.
..... "People are not going to the hospital, canceling medical appointments, or they reach out and ask if someone can go with them," she said. "We're been delivering groceries fro families - they don't want to go out to the supermarket."
..... Advocacy groups advise people to know their rights, such as he right to remain silent or to refuse entry to their home without a warrant.
...... Immigration attorney Mustafa Cetin, who is representing a man detained in Harrison, said ICE enforcement has expanded beyond prior priorities. His client recently marred a U.S. citizen, he said, and was preparing to file for a green card when he was stopped.
..... He advise people who lack legal immigration status to seek legal advice and have a plan in case they are detained.
..... "Until now immigration enforcement was all about being strategic," hes aid. "Now they have more offices and more teams to send after people - doesn't matter if you have criminal record or not."

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