Activists urge NJ governor to condemn escalating immigration tactics

HIGHLAND PARK — Immigration advocates gathered in this Middlesex County borough on Wednesday said they want Gov. Phil Murphy to condemn the Trump administration’s escalating detention and deportation tactics after as many as 25 workers were arrested by federal immigration authorities in Edison last week.

Standing in front of the Reformed Church of Highland Park, activists told stories of traumatized coworkers, family members unable to see loved ones after being turned away at detention centers, and frightened workers scared to return to their jobs. Nearly 100 people attended the rally. 

“Twenty-five people from our community are missing. Guadalupe didn’t open the church this weekend. Hector was not there with his family having dinner with them,” said Heidi Torres of Movimiento Cosecha. “I want all of us to fight because when these raids happen and people are detained, there are not many options for them to get out, so we need a movement. We need elected officials.” 

A network of organizations — including New Labor, Movimiento Cosecha, and Resistencia en Acción — responded to an immigration raid at the Alba Wine and Spirits warehouse in the Heller Industrial Park in Edison on July 8. The 300,000-square-foot warehouse is regularly inspected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, but activists said on this day, those agents arrived with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. 

Amanda Dominguez, a community organizer with New Labor, said people were separated into groups and either provided red wristbands if they were “safe” or zip-tied and taken away in vans. Dozens of federal agents’ vans and trucks blocked access to families and lawyers, she added. 

Jorge Torres, an organizer with National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said reports of similar raids have escalated in recent weeks, particularly outside of Home Depots, 7-Elevens, and other places where day laborers often congregate looking for work. 

The Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale, co-pastor of the church, said he would no longer call New Jersey a sanctuary state. Kaper-Dale said it was “fantastic” when the state put a directive in place limiting local law enforcement’s cooperation in civil immigration investigations, but the current state of immigration enforcement in New Jersey makes him question how strong the state’s policies are. 

Kaper-Dale’s church has offered sanctuary to undocumented immigrants for months at a time. He said that made sense in a time when locations like churches, schools, and hospitals were generally off-limits to immigration authorities.

“Sanctuary is going to have to become less about singular locations being sanctuary, and something that’s more about full-blow efforts of safety,” he said. “Sanctuary is going to have to be more creative now.” 

Charlene Walker of Faith in New Jersey said Murphy, a Democrat, has remained silent for too long. 

“He has been as quiet as a church mouse, acting as though he has no say and there’s nothing he can do,” Walker said. 

Murphy addressed the Edison raid after an unrelated press conference last week.

“Obviously, I’ve said time and time again, we don’t pursue that model,” he said. “We don’t stand in the way of federal authorities doing their work and cooperating with them all the time. But beyond that, I have no insight into the Edison situation.”

Kaper-Dale said he wants Murphy to issue statements with a “heart and spine.”

“No word like, ‘We’re horrified that the residents of New Jersey had their families broken up. We’re horrified that workplaces have become places of assault and abuse by white masked men.’ Not one word of heart was there, and the spine is not there at all,” Kaper-Dale said. 

The governor’s office declined to comment further.

Murphy faces his own troubles related to immigration. The New York Times reported last week that he has been subpoenaed over comments he made in February suggesting he would hide a migrant in his home and shield her from immigration authorities. Murphy has declined to comment on the report.

Advocates believe the July 8 raid was the largest sweep of New Jersey migrants picked up by immigration officials since President Donald Trump retook office in January and ramped up deportation efforts. It’s unclear where they are being held, though advocates said they have accounted for some workers at Delaney Hall in Newark and the Elizabeth Detention Center. 

Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, confirmed the arrest of 20 people.

“There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine law enforcement’s efforts. Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safeguard public safety, national security and economic stability. These operations target illegal employment networks that undermine American workers, destabilize labor markets and expose critical infrastructure to exploitation,” she said in a statement.

 Alba Wine and Spirits did not answer a call placed to the warehouse.