Rep. Watson Coleman Sends Letter to ICE, Requests Information on Surprise Princeton Raid
Ewing, NJ (July 16, 2024) — Today, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) sent a letter to Daniel A. Bible, the Executive Associate Director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Newark Field Office.
The letter comes after a surprise ICE raid in Princeton, NJ, where unidentified armed federal agents entered the community in unmarked vehicles and reportedly approached Hispanic/Latinx residents and demanded identification as they were going about their day.
“As a Member of Congress, I write to express my deepest concern regarding the conduct of agents involved in an operation carried out by the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Newark Field Office in Princeton, New Jersey on Wednesday, July 10th, 2024,” Rep. Watson Coleman writes in the letter. “In addition to the conduct of the agents themselves, I have serious questions as to the process that preceded this operation, and the transparency of the federal agencies involved.”
In the letter, Rep. Watson Coleman seeks answers to several questions relating to the raid and the events leading up to it, including:
- “What is the standard operating procedure for ICE when agents are dispatched into a community?
- “What is the notification process prior to a raid and is there a chain of command on the ground that includes local, county, or state officials?
- “Can you confirm that a warrant was issued and served in accordance with the law?
- “Can you confirm that these agents were properly identifiable and following official protocols? If so, why are there reports that their presence caused confusion among residents as to what kind of “police” they were? If not, where was the point of failure?
- “Are agents legally allowed to stop people on the street and ask them for identification?
- “What happened to the individuals who were taken? Are they all considered arrested or detained? What are their official charges? Where are they being held? Have their families been informed?”
The full text of the letter can be found here.
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