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Immigrant advocates fer more ICE raids

Point to July law's funs for detention, new hires

By: Ricardo Kaulessar
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... Teenage refugee cousin from Iran living in northern Bergen County were seized by Immigration and Customs Reinforcement officiates within the same week.
..... Immigrant advocates and politicians clashed with federal agents while protesting outside and trying to visit the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, which is urn by ICE.
..... ICE agents entered a wine warehouse in Edison and arrested 20 employees after asking about their immigration status.
..... ICE activities in the Garden State have been heating up since the start of the second term of the Trump presidency as part of his mission to deport millions of undocumented immigrants from the United Stats.
..... Immigrate advocates and experts expect to get a lot worse.
..... According to the U.S. census, 2.3 million immigrants make up almost 24% of New Jersey's population, the second-larges share in the country behind California. New Jersey is also home to an estimated 475,000 undocumented immigrants, the Pew Research center says.
..... They see the funding form the congressional tax and spending bill, named the "One Big Beautiful Bill" by the president, leading to increased ICE raids, a boom in detention facilities, and an increased cost for immigrants wanting to enter the country.
..... The government sees it as a pathway to safety.
..... "President Trump's signing the One Big Beautiful Bill is a win for law and order and the safety and security of the American people," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement to NorthJersey.com . "This $165 billion in funding will help the Department of Homeland Security and our brave law enforcement further deliver on President Trump's mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens and MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN!"
..... The $3.4 trillion bill, passed in the House by a 218-212 vote on July 3, [2025] provides more than $170 billion in funding to the federal agencies that oversee immigration and border enforcement, such as the Department of Homeland Security and the agencies that operate under HDA - ICE and Customs and Border Protection = along with the Department of Defense.
..... "More enforcement means more detention," said Itzel Hernandez, an immigrate rights organizer in Monmouth and Ocean counties for the American Friends Service Committee. "The way in which mitigation enforcement is carried out is a real threat to our civil liberties as American Unfortunately, I think many people are realizing that now."
..... The bill sets aside nearly $30 billion for enforcement and removal of undocumented immigrants, which would cover the hiring of ICE agents, transportation costs and detaining families. That will result in making ICE the largest law enforcement agency in the country.
..... Hernandez came to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 10 years old as an undocumented immigrant. She is a recipient of the DACA program, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which affords protection against deportation and access to work permits to undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children, a group often referred to as Dreamers.
..... She worries about one of the immediate impacts of the bill, which will be to increase the number of ICE personnel in the field, resulting in more immigrants - undocumented and documented - being swept up in raids.
..... "That's something that deeply worries me as a DACA recipient," Hernandez said. "What we are seeing in places like Texas, as well as the Department of Homeland Security, is arguments that DACA is not proof that you're legally residing in the United States, which is not a fact."
..... Hernandez is not the only one concerned about the growing presence of ICE in New Jersey due to the bill.
..... Charlene Walker, the executive director of Faith in New Jersey, a multiracial network of faith leaders and communities that works with immigrants, said the increase in ICE agents will lead to out-of-control immigration enforcement.
..... Walker pointed to a recent ICE raid in Princeton that alarmed immigrant advocates. On July 24, [2025] ICE agents detained 15 workers for a landscaping company, and failed to inform the municipality or local police, said a joint statement by the borough's mayor and council.
..... She also said the bill will provide a substantial amount of money to attract people to become ICE agents who may not by qualified to do that work. DHS on July 29 [2025] announced a campaign to attract "brave and heroic Americans" to become ICE agents by offering an incentive package that includes a maximum $50,000 signing bonus and forgiveness of student loans.
..... The government "decided to increase terror in our streets, which we have already seen in New Jersey," Walker said of the increase in ICE agents. "They want to be able to deputize and make anyone law enforcement.
..... Officials at ICE and DHS did not answer questions sent to them by email.

New fee structures from the bill

..... While taxpayer money is being made available for immigration enforcement actions, immigrants are also going to be contributing to the bottom line via new fees, including a $1,000 fee to apply to be allowed into the United States on immigrant parole (temporary permission granted for humanitarian or medical reasons).
..... Marleina Ubel, senior policy analyst for New Jersey Policy Perspective, said the fees are onerous and will discourage undocumented immigrants in New Jersey and nationwide from seeking legal statue.
..... "these new fees turn legal immigration into a pay-to-play system," Ubel said. "It creates barriers for working families, and it drives more people into undocumented status."
..... Kaitlin Sidorsky, an associate professor of political science and public policy at Ramapo College, said the bill will hurt legal immigration by cutting access to social services, such as Medicare.
..... "If you came here as a victim of domestic violence, you came here on asylum for that, that;s no longer good enough to get any kind of classic services," Sidorsky said. "That's gong to hurt a lot of people, especially women and children."

The money going to detention

..... The second-largest amount of money from the bill is $45 million, which is designated for expanding the capacity at immigrant detention centers. the money in the bill must be spent by the end of September 2029.
.... Representative Rob Menendez, whose 8th congressional District includes parts of Newark, and Elizabeth, said in a statement to NorthJersey.com that he voted against the bill because "it more than quadruples ICE's budget for detention, much of which will go to private operators like CoreCivic and the GEO Group, which operate Elizabeth Detention Center and Delaney Hall in New Jersey. That's why we fought so hard against this increased funding for ICE and DHS, and why we will continue to do so."
..... Dante Apaestegui, who serves as the community response coordinator for the New Jessey Alliance for Immigrant Jusitce, said the bill will give a significant boost to the existing immigrant detention centers in the state and could lead to the creation of more, not just in New Heresy, but nationwide.
..... "Looking at the nearest detention center ... Delaney Hall. It's like with this money, it's as if DHS made 150 Delaney Hall in New Jersey for a year, for a contract until September 30, 2029," Apaestegui said. "We're concerned about one detention center that recently opened. Imagine now what capacity they have for detention expansion in New Jersey and across the country."
..... The 1,196-bed Delaney Hall on the outskirts of Newark, was the first immigrant detention center to open during Trump's second presidency. Since its opening on May 1, [2025] it has been the site of much drama, such as the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka on May 9 [2025] and a June12 [2025] escape by four detainees, who were all eventually apprehended. The faculty has also been the subject of criticism fro poor conditions inside and outside, such as insufficient food and erratic visiting hours.
.... There's also Joint Base McGrire-Dix-Lakehurst, the military base south of Trenton, which is going to be sued to detain over 1,000 migrants, on top of the nearly 500 already being held daily at Delaney Hall and the Elizabeth Detention Center, according to the Transactional Record Access Clearhouse at Syracuse University.

What can be done

..... Apaestegui and Walker both agreed that one way to address the potential harm from the bill to immigrants in the state is for the immigrant trust Act to be passed soon.
..... The Immigrant Trust Act, currently pending in the Legislature, would limit New Jersey state and local agencies from sharing personal information with ICE or assisting federal officers in the field when they are enforcing civil warrants, typically issued for low-level offenses such as failing to appear in court or staying in the country after a visa expires.
..... The legislation is considered vital for protecting migrants in New Jersey, especially as Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been leading unannounced raids on the state.
..... But since it was introduced in the New Jersey Senate in September, 2024, the bill has languished in the state Legislature, not receiving a hearing.
..... State Senator Gordon Johnson, one of the main sponsors of the Immigrant trust Act, said in an interview in May [2025] that he was hopeful the bill would be passed before this legislative session ends in January. [2026]
..... Apaestegui said the community members "need to reach out to their state legislators" and "voice that the Immigrant Trust Act is something that they want them to support." Walker said state legislators should pass the legislation to show they are "prioritizing doing what's going to help" immigrants and cannot afford to wait until next year [2026] when deportations are happening every day.
..... Menendez, the 8th district congressman, said stemming the effects of the bill on New Jersey immigrants - undocumented and documented - will take an "all-hands approach to protect everyone who calls our community home."
..... "On the federal level, we will continue to conduct lawful oversight of ICE detention facilities and enforcement actions, holding this administration accountable and fighting for transparency from private detention operators," Menendez said. "But it's vital that we continue to partner with state leaders, as well."

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