Solomon calls Jersey City ICE raid ‘unconscionable,’ city working on JCPD guidance

Jersey City Mayor James Solomon provided a community update on U.S. Immigration, Customs, and Enforcement (ICE) after agents confirmed they arrested 10 individuals in Jersey City in recent days.

By John Heinis/Hudson County View

“We had people profiled and asked for their IDs in our city simply based on the color of their skin. That has no place in America. It has no place in Jersey City. It is against everything in this city stands for,” Solomon told reporters after an unrelated presser.

According to Solomon, those detained over the weekend are being held at Delaney Hall in Newark. He said that for any family members affected, there are local organizations that provide resources and assistance for them and their loved one.

Solomon condemned “in the strongest terms as possible” ICE’s recent actions in Jersey City. He said that Jersey City has demanded they leave and never come back if they are going to use that style of indiscriminate targeting.

“We are committed to our sanctuary city policies, which state that we do not use city resources or city personnel to aid and assist ICE unless they have a signed judicial warrant,” the mayor said.

He added that he didn’t believe the assertion from ICE that the Jersey City Police Department was notified beforehand, reiterating spokesman Nathaniel Styer’s comments from yesterday.

“That was a lie. I don’t trust anything that’s coming out of that operation. And I think we’ve seen these extraordinary abuses from that. We’ve laid out our policy. They all know what our policy is,” Solomon stated.

If federal immigration enforcement authorities have a signed criminal warrant, then the city will cooperate. Outside of that, he said Jersey City’s latest executive order policies entail no further assistance.

“That’s our policy. It’s a policy that keeps the people of Jersey City safe.”

“10 illegal aliens” were arrested in Jersey City on Sunday, some “who committed felonies” by re-entering the country, an ICE spokeswoman exclusively told HCV.

One such incident was caught on camera by multiple onlookers including Ward D Councilman Jake Ephros, who recorded the incredulous moment at the 9th Street Station of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail where an ICE agent told him he “didn’t need a warrant, bro,” to detain individuals in public spaces.

Solomon described the encounter on the border of the Jersey City Heights and Hoboken as well as the others as “unconscionable,” noting that neighbors and members of the community are being detained on their way to work at the light rail station.

While Solomon wouldn’t comment on the legality of if ICE or Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) needs a warrant to detain individuals in public spaces, he said that they should have a warrant.

He said that if Trump is really targeting “the worst of the worst criminals,” that it should be easy for a warrant to be obtained in the wake of the crime they have committed.

Solomon brought it full circle back to the topic of affordability and finances, underscoring that billions of dollars are being spent on this be the federal government.

He contrasted the vast ICE budget ballooned by the Trump Administration with the lack of action on making healthcare or housing more affordable.

“We have an affordability crisis in the city, in the state, and in this country. Instead, we have a distraction where we are literally rounding up people on their way to work, who have lived in our community for 15, 20 years raising their families,” Solomon declared.

“It is wild that the President is devoting his time to going after hardworking people and not making life more affordable.”

Solomon was then question on ICE ignoring Solomon’s executive order by staging their operations in the Heights in Pershing Field and West Side Park, underscoring that people want the JCPD to protect residents from ICE and questioned if they should intervene if they witness a detention by masked operatives.

In response, the Jersey City mayor said his administration is working closely with Public Safety Director Anthony Ambrose and Chief Robert Kearns on appropriate guidance to give to JCPD to navigate “the horrors that this ICE operation provides.”

“We are going to give our officers guidance on how we expect them to handle it. In the executive order, we actually call specifically for training our officers on de-escalation training with federal agents … to avoid situations in which our officers may be hurt or injured,” stated Solomon.

According to Solomon, NJ Transit and Port Authority police are responsible in situations at light rail or PATH stations due to jurisdiction, but the JCPD is patrolling streets with a high concentration of bus stops, including: Central Avenue, West Side Avenue, Columbus Drive, and Newark Avenue, among others.

He remarked that the federal immigration enforcement actions in Jersey City have damaged trust between the community and local law enforcement.

“We want local people to trust them [local police]: ICE is basically destroying any form of trust that would have been built from our community as law enforcement.”