U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained several people in Hudson County on Sunday near the Jersey City Heights and Hoboken border, with one agent telling an elected official warrants are not needed.
Videos on social media show ICE agents taking people into custody in unmarked vehicles in both cities in Hudson County.
“The videos are extremely disturbing – apparently including randomly picking up people on their way to work,” Jersey City Mayor James Solomon said in a statement.
Hoboken and Jersey City police were not notified in advance and were not involved in detaining residents, officials said.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last week, Solomon signed an executive order that bars ICE agents from using city-owned properties as they operate in New Jersey’s second-largest city.
“We’re ICE, clearly we’re marked,” an ICE agent tells Jersey City Councilman Jake G. Ephros on Sunday in a video posted to Instagram. “There’s nothing that you’re going to say that’s going to prevent us from doing our job.”
When Ephros asks the agent if they have a warrant, the agent responds: “We don’t need a warrant, bro. Stop getting that into your head.”
Hoboken Mayor Emily B. Jabbour said she and Councilman Joe Quintero spoke with witnesses who told them ICE agents arrested three people, including two workers at local businesses.
“I know how unsettling and frightening this news can feel, especially for our immigrant neighbors,” Jabbour said in a letter to the community.
“Please take care of yourselves and one another,” Jabbour said, encouraging residents to review the American Civil Liberties Union’s “Know Your Rights” guide.
The Fourth Amendment protects people from warrantless entry into their homes.
The ACLU guide states law enforcement officers generally need a judicial warrant signed by a judge before they can enter a private dwelling, unless a resident allows them inside.
According to an internal ICE memo obtained by The Associated Press in January, agents are authorized to remove a person from their home based on an administrative warrant rather than a judicial warrant signed by a judge.