ICE Arrests More Than 500 In Raids, Including U.S. Veteran In New Jersey, Mayor Says

“The largest massive deportation operation in history is well underway,” the White House press secretary wrote on social media.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested more than 500 people on Thursday, including during a raid on a worksite in New Jersey that a local official called an “egregious act” that violated the Fourth Amendment.

Newark Mayor Ray Baraka said ICE officials detained undocumented residents as well as citizens during a raid on a business, without producing a warrant. One of the people detained, Baraka said, was a U.S. military veteran “who suffered the indignity of having the legitimacy of his military documentation questioned.”

“This egregious act is in plain violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees ‘the right of the people be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures…’” the mayor said in a statement. “Newark will not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorized.”

An ICE spokesperson defended the arrests in a statement to media outlets, saying the agency may encounter some citizens “while conducting field work and may request identification to establish an individual’s identity as was the case during a targeted enforcement operation at a worksite today.”

“This is an active investigation and, per ICE policy, we cannot discuss ongoing investigations,” the spokesperson told Axios.