... The federal raid at Ocean Seafood Depot in Newark's Ironbound section caught its owner Luis Janota by surprise.
He told Eyewitness News that agents asked for documentation for three workers and took them into custody when they couldn't provide it.
"I feel like we have to be a country of law, but we have to go after bad people, not working people," Janota said. "These are family people. These are people who show up to work every day."
ICE Newark said in a statement, "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement may encounter U.S. 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 in Newark, New Jersey. This is an active investigation and, per ICE policy."
There's no word yet from ICE of Homeland Security as to why these individuals were detained, but the move has infuriated local officials.
Congresswoman LaMonica McIver of New Jersey's 10th District, said her office has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security to get answers on how ICE was allowed to come in "without warrant and without justification-to detain not only immigrants, but citizens and even a veteran of our nation's military."
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka says that veteran "suffered the indignity of having the legitimacy of his military documentation questioned."
He insisted that there was no warrant for the arrest. ...
NYU Law professor Ryan Goodman says ICE can detain people on a public sidewalk, but "can't go into private locations without a warrant that's been approved by a judge."
"If it's a private part of the business or it's the back rooms in the business where the workers are, they're not allowed without a warrant," he said. "So when the mayor says that this was without a warrant, that is a serious concern." ...
