Residents say to be prepared for ICE

NJ presence prompts some to carry passports

By: Mary Ann Kouth
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... Recent sweeps by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Morristown, Palisades Park and other North Jersey towns have growing number of anxious residents - including African Americans and those of Asian descent - choosing to carry passport cards when they go out.
..... And alarm over local ICE activity, heightened by the violence in Minneapolis, where American citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti were shot and killed by immigration enforcement officers within a span of weeks, has prompted some North Jersey residents to seek training on how to handle ICE encounters and support undocumented people.
..... A January [2026] raid in Morristown by ICE agents led to the arrest of 11 people, including a high school student who was later released.
.... The deaths of good and Pretti have spread fear not only among New Jersey's undocumented residents, but among legal immigrants and citizens protesting President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.
..... And for many in North Jersey's diverse, densely populated cities and large immigrant enclaves ICE's presence and the agents' tactics have given residents pause, form affluent to lower-income neighborhoods. Some say they fear that they or their relatives will be stopped or arrested simply because they look like immigrants.
..... The Department of Homeland Security has come under scrutiny form lawmakers for the free rein that ICE officers appear to have, and an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit accuses ICE of indiscriminate arrests solely on the basis of perceiving Minnesotans as Somali or Latino.
..... Meanwhile, two Boston-based organization have sued the Homeland Security and ICE for agents' practice of entering homes without judicial warrants.
..... The nonprofit Asian American and Pacific Islander Coalition of New Jersey or AAPI-NJ, held an event called "Stronger Than Fear: Eat, Shop and Show Up for Palisades Park," on January 31, [2026] inviting "Asian Americans and allies who feel safe enough to come out with us and eat and shop" after the town's main retail strip on Broad Avenue was hit by mitigation raids.
..... "Palisades Park has been hit multiple times," said HyunJu Kwak, a former president of the Ridgewood Board of Education and a board member of AAFI-NJ, who attended the event with friends from Montclair and Ridgewood.
..... Kwak arrived in Palisades Park with her Korean American parents when she was 10, and became a naturalized citizen. she said she and people she knows now carry passport cards in their wallets.
..... "We all carry our passport cards," Kwak said. "It's not a must, but lately it feels like a must.
..... Her decision wasn't tied to any particular move from the Trump administration. "But you hear about incidents where it might be prudent to have your papers ready," she said.
..... "So why would you not be prepared? It sounds like the immigration crackdown is accelerating, and there may not be a whole lot of guardrails to differentiate between illegal immigrants and naturalized citizens or ones with birthright citizenship," Kwak said.
..... "The facts that we even contemplate this is pretty drastic," she said. "this is not the America that I grew up in. I cannot even describe - it;s very sad. To be at risk simply for the way I look?"

Training to deal with ICE

..... About 70 people showed up at a recent town hall in Maplewood for supporters of 11th Congressional District candidate Analilia Mejia. the event also included a training session on how to respond when encountering ICE agents.
..... Signs say "abolish ICE" were organizer on a Chatteriee handed out a hot-line number to call when people spot ICE agents as well as information on differentiating between federal agents based on their uniforms.
..... Any protest must be nonviolent and use the tactics espoused by the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., she said.
..... "In sure you all are tired of navigating through the ice," Chatteriee said at one point, referring to the cold weather but attendees smiled wryly at the word "ice."
..... "I think there's a huge shift going on in the country," said Maplewood resident Heddy Rosenstein. she said her grandparents perished during the Holocaust and her parents came to America from Poland before World War II.
..... Rosestein backed thee bills in the state Legislature supporting immigrant protections, though only one, which declares certain public buildings and places of worship as safe havens, was signed into law by former Governor Phil Murphy.
..... "We see now in Minneapolis how brave people are," Rosenstein said. "It goes to the core of who I think people feel [they are] as Americans. We must use every single opportunity to stand up and say 'no, this is way, to much.'"
..... Olivia and Edison Guamba were at the event with their 8-month-old daughter. Edison was a child when he arrived in the United States from Ecuador, and has always carried his American passport card.
..... "I think my status has always felt tentative," he said. "I've always carried a passport card. I feel more comfortable with in in my pocket."
..... Olivia, who is African American, said she worries that people in her community could forget that ICE may target them.
..... The couple said the death of Alex Pretti and seeing ICE accosting people on the street is a reality check for anyone of color. "For communities that don't experience these struggles regular, I can see why it took such impactful events to even become relevant," Edison said.

'False sense of security'

..... In North Jersey's South Asian community , some people are worried about their children - mostly boys or young men - being stopped by ICE. Older people who have an accent, or dress differently, or who "may not feel confident navigating authority," could also be especially vulnerable right now when confronted by ICE agents, said Lavi Raghavan, a graphic designer, community organizer and Glen Ridge resident.
..... "Educated, professional Indian American must confront a hard truth," she told NorthJersey.com . "Our degrees, our accents, and the way we dress will not pretext us. We have lived under a false sense of security. If the state could murder Renee Goo and Alex Pretti, it can happen to any of us. Privilege does not protect us. Solidarity does."
..... But for some advocates for undocumented immigrants, especially those who have faced ICE for decades, the public a outrage and even local mobilizing after the deaths of Good and Pretti is not a comfort.
..... Diana Meja, an organizer for Wind of the Sprite, a grassroots undocumented immigrant advocacy group, said the group used to publicize its "rapid response" methods to alert community members about ICE through the early 2000s under the Bush, Obama and first Trump administration.
..... But after January 2025, with he start of trump's second term and the tactics that his administration is using, the group does not want to draw attention or sue training "as a tool to fundraiser," she said. "But I can tell you the method we sue is not violence, not confrontation,"
..... "These are lonely times for us," Mejia said. "We do not know who to trust."

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