One of the biggest ICE raids just happened in New Jersey with dozens arrested

☑️ ICE agents went to the Freight Smart warehouse in Edison on Wednesday morning

☑️ 29 people were taken into custody, according to News 12

☑️ It's the second ICE raid on an Edison warehouse since July

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EDISON — ICE agents raided a Middlesex County warehouse on Wednesday morning, taking 29 people into custody.

This was the second raid at an Edison workplace in as many months.

The raid on Patrick Avenue took place at a warehouse belonging to Smart Logistics and Freight Solutions, also known as Freight Smart.

Agents showed up around 10 a.m., the immigrant advocacy group New Labor told News 12.

The warehouse is a Customs and Border Patrol-bonded facility, which allows inspections.

According to ICE, Section 287 of the Immigration and Nationality Act provides ICE officers the authority to arrest unauthorized immigrants without a judicial warrant.

The New York Times said the raid appears to be one of the largest federal raids during President Donald Trump's second term in office.

In a statement to Univision, Customs and Border Protection said they were conducting a "surprise inspection" to "verify compliance with customs, employment, and safety regulations to protect the supply chain, American commerce, and public safety."

Witnesses told Univision that people started screaming when the agents arrived and that "several" people were injured. Two ambulances were dispatched to the warehouse during the operation, according to the witnesses. Video shows marked and unmarked ICE vehicles parked on warehouse property. Some workers walked around with their hands in the air.

ICE's Newark office did not respond to New Jersey 101.5's request for more information o Thursday morning.

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Pallone: Trump terrorizing communities

Edison police told New Jersey 101.5 they were given an hour's notice that ICE would be conducting an operation in the township. Per the state's Immigrant Trust Directive, the department did not assist with the raid.

Edison is the state's 6th largest municipality, with about 108,000 residents. Exactly half of the township's residents are foreign-born, and nearly 47% of those foreign-born residents do not have U.S. citizenship (which does not necessarily mean they are living here illegally).

U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J. 6th District, said the raid is an example of President Donald Trump "terrorizing our communities and raiding places of work."

"Yesterday’s raid in Edison is more proof his administration will stretch the law without a warrant. The warehouse workers were just trying to do their jobs when armed agents stormed in, rounding up our neighbors without warning or cause, just to make a political point," Pallone said on his X account.

In a joint statement U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim were critical of the raid describing it as "performative theatrics that do little to enhance public safety or advance the pursuit of meaningful, effective immigration reform."

"Yesterday’s chaotic raid on a shipping warehouse in Edison, which resulted in multiple injuries, serves as yet another stark reminder that, despite Trump’s pledge to go after the so-called ‘worst of the worst,’ his administration is instead just terrorizing workers and immigrant communities. Raids like this don’t only devastate the families affected, they destabilize local businesses and disrupt our economy."

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Second ICE raid in Edison in two months

Agents went to the Alba Wine and Spirits warehouse in Edison on July 8 as part of a "joint worksite compliance inspection." DHS said that of the over 100 employees interviewed, 20 were identified as unauthorized immigrants from South American countries. Five of those taken into custody were issued final orders of removal by an immigration judge.

There has been an increase in arrests by ICE since Trump began his second term, with reports of raids across the country. Yet the majority of people currently detained by ICE have no criminal convictions. Of those who do, relatively few have been convicted of high-level crimes.

The latest ICE statistics show that as of June 29, officials had detained 57,861 people, 71.7% of whom had no criminal convictions. That includes 14,318 people with pending criminal charges and 27,177 who are subject to immigration enforcement, but have no known criminal convictions or pending criminal charges.

EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this report should have said that 47% of the township's foreign-born residents, not of the entire population, are not U.S. citizens.

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