Dozens of immigrant workers were detained at a warehouse in New Jersey on Wednesday, in the latest federal raid as part of Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Agents from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) descended on the warehouse, in Edison, New Jersey, at 9am on Wednesday, the New York Times reported. Officers led some workers away in zip ties, employees told the Times, while people they deemed to have legal status in the US were given yellow wristbands.
Univision reported that the agents spent hours at the facility, during what CBP said was a “surprise inspection”. CBP told Univision the operation had begun as part of “routine efforts” to verify customs, employment and safety regulations.
Related: Community rallies around LA teen detained by Ice while walking dog
CBP did not immediately respond to questions from the Guardian.
Videos taken by New Labor, a New Jersey-based labor and immigration reform organization, showed CBP vehicles at the site, along with unmarked SUVs. New Labor said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents were also at the raid.
“We have customs and border patrol holding the door open for their Ice counterparts to say they’re allowed in with us, and then they start doing immigration-related actions,” Amanda Dominguez, an organizer at New Labor, told News 12 New York.
“That is illegal. Ice still needs their own judicial warrant signed by a judge.”
Relatives of the workers gathered at the facility throughout the day, the Times reported, waiting for news about people inside.
“People were very upset and crying and angry, completely understandably,” said Ellen Whit, who works at Deportation & Immigrant Response Equipo (Dire), a New Jersey hotline that responds to calls about raids and from relatives of immigrants who have been detained, told the Times. “One girl’s father was taken. She was very, very upset.”
Workers described a chaotic scene as federal agents arrived. About 20 agents entered through the front door of the warehouse, witnesses told the Times, while other agents blocked alternative exits. Some people were injured amid the chaos, while others hid in the rafters of the warehouse for hours in an attempt to avoid the officers.
The raid comes weeks after 20 people were taken into custody by Ice at the Alba Wine and Spirits warehouse in Edison. Activists told Fox 5 NY that masked Ice agents arrived that the warehouse in 30 cars, with K-9 dogs.
Phil Murphy, the Democratic governor of New Jersey, said after the Alba raid, according to NJ Spotlight News: “We don’t stand in the way of federal authorities doing their work and [we are] cooperating with them all the time. But beyond that, I have no insight into the Edison situation.”
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