ICE Agents 'Conducted Operations' In Asbury Park, Neptune Township

ASBURY PARK, NJ — Asbury Park Police confirmed Monday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents "conducted operations" in that city, however police declined to say when operations were done, or if anyone was taken into ICE custody

In neighboring Neptune Township, police and multiple eyewitnesses confirmed ICE agents did raids in that town on Friday afternoon, TAP Into reported.

"ICE has conducted operations within Asbury Park. Regarding specifics, I have been advised to refer inquiries to ICE," Asbury Park Police spokesman Sgt. Mike Casey said Monday morning.

"At this time, we cannot give further information on this targeted law enforcement action. Per ICE policy, we don’t discuss actions as they are ongoing or active," ICE spokeswoman Chrissy Cuttita said Monday morning.

After President Donald Trump took office last Monday, ICE agents have been initiating raids and enforcement campaigns across the United States, and throughout New Jersey.

ICE agents were spotted in the predominantly Spanish-speaking cities of West New York and Union City on Saturday and Sunday, CBS news reported. At least one man was taken into custody Sunday, according to the West New York mayor. ICE agents were also in Paterson Sunday, News 12 reported.

Across the nation, ICE took 956 people into custody on Sunday alone.

And last Thursday, ICE agents raided Oceans Seafood Depot, a seafood processing plant in Newark, taking eight people, including four women, into custody. One of the detained is accused of overstaying a visa and was placed into immediate deportation proceedings, CBS reported. Others have court dates. One of the people they took into custody included a man who once served in the U.S. military, according to Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. This comes after 33 people in Newark were taken into ICE custody during a “targeted surge operation” the agency did in that city between Dec. 9 and Dec. 13, ICE previously said.

On day two of his presidency, Trump said he would allow ICE/Homeland Security agents to go into churches, schools and hospitals to make arrests, something they had been prohibited from doing since at least 2011. That announcement led the NJ Department of Education to release this new guidance a day later, Wednesday, which gives step-by-step guidelines for what school principals should do when — not if — ICE agents enter New Jersey schools.

The DOE is also telling school principals to ask ICE agents for a warrant.

"It is vitally important for school officials to obtain a copy of any judicial search or arrest warrant, court order or subpoena and present it to your district legal counsel before taking any action in response to immigration officials, including ICE personnel," read last week's NJ DOE guidelines. "The New Jersey Department of Education is unwavering in its commitment to ensuring that every student, regardless of immigration status, national origin, or religion, can attend public school safely."

"Every child deserves the right to attend school without fear," Gov. Phil Murphy said last week.

Trump's border czar Tom Homan told CBS Sunday the people ICE is arresting are those accused of crimes. But he did also say some people are being taken into ICE custody in "collateral arrests," specifically in sanctuary cities where ICE agents are "locked out of the jails," Homan said.

Anyone in the country unlawfully is "on the table," Homan said Sunday. "It's not OK to violate the laws of this country. We have millions of people standing in line, taking the test, doing their background investigation, paying the fees that want to come in the right way ... So if you're in the country illegally, you got a problem."

Newark Mayor Baraka and New Jersey's two U.S. senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim, decried last Thursday's raid in Newark.

"Our offices have reached out to the Department of Homeland Security to demand answers. Actions like this one sow fear in all of our communities — and our broken immigration system requires solutions, not fear tactics," said Booker and Kim, both Democrats.

Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla said Friday if immigration agents conduct raids in that town, the police won't comply without a warrant.

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