New Jersey Reports Spike in Immigration Arrests Following Recent Targeted ICE Operations

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested people in targeted New Jersey operations as the state recorded a 159% increase in immigration arrests over the same period last year, according to federal enforcement figures summarized in late June.

New Jersey now ranks 8th nationally for the number of immigration arrests. The increase has unfolded alongside expanded detention plans, a new registration requirement and a court battle over where federal agents can operate.

The Department of Homeland Security has described the broader campaign as the “Make America Safe Again” initiative. Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said ICE arrested several people in New Jersey on June 3, including Joan Sebastian Acosta-Gacha, who had been convicted of sexual exploitation of a minor, and Jorge Luis Verastegui-Ramirez, who was wanted in his home country for aggravated robbery.

Bis issued the statement June 4. She said the agency would continue its operations despite criticism from “sanctuary politicians and anti-ICE agitators.”

“Despite smears from sanctuary politicians and anti-ICE agitators, ICE is not slowing down its efforts to arrest and remove the worst of the worst from our country. Yesterday in New Jersey, ICE arrested several illegal aliens during a targeted operation, including a child predator and an illegal alien wanted in his home country for aggravated robbery. Sanctuary politicians should be thanking the brave men and women of ICE. We will not let rioters or sanctuary politicians stand in our way.”

Federal arrests are expanding while New Jersey restricts access

The June 3 operation brought federal agents into New Jersey neighborhoods. The arrests of Acosta-Gacha and Verastegui-Ramirez became the central examples cited by DHS officials as they defended the campaign.

Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said June 12 that the department would use every lawful avenue to denaturalize and remove noncitizens. He also accused people who committed crimes of exploiting the immigration system.

“DHS will not stand idly by while Americans are harmed by criminals. who have exploited our generosity and gamed our immigration system. We will continue to use every lawful avenue to denaturalize and remove aliens.”

The federal campaign has met resistance from state and local officials. New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed Executive Order No. 12 in February, barring ICE from staging operations on state property and requiring judicial warrants to enter non-public areas.

The Justice Department sued to invalidate the order in US v. State of New Jersey, case number 3:26-cv-1770. Federal attorneys argue that the order violates the Supremacy Clause.

Essex County officials escalated the dispute July 13. They adopted a resolution refusing to honor ICE detainers, and DHS accused local politicians of releasing criminals into New Jersey communities.

A new registration rule adds another arrest pathway

DHS finalized an Alien Registration Requirement rule June 29. Under the rule, most noncitizens older than 14 who remain in the United States for more than 30 days must register through Form G-325R, according to USCIS information on the requirement.

The registration rule has become part of the enforcement dispute. Federal officials are using noncompliance as a primary basis for arrests during routine traffic stops and immigration check-ins.

The rule reaches beyond the targeted neighborhood operations. It gives immigration agents another context for making arrests during ordinary encounters.

Detention capacity is growing as arrests climb

ICE purchased a warehouse in Roxbury Township in March for approximately $130 million. The agency plans to convert the property into a large detention and processing hub.

The proposed facility adds capacity while conditions at Newark’s Delaney Hall detention center have drawn protests. About 300 detainees at the facility took part in a hunger and labor strike between May 22 and late June, objecting to what they described as “inhumane conditions” and “medical neglect.”

The protest ended after ICE began mass transfers of people who had joined the strike to remote facilities in the South, according to the ACLU-NJ and AFSC. The advocacy groups said the transfers disrupted the detainees’ organized protest.

DHS rejected criticism of Delaney Hall in a May 28 statement. The department accused local officials of spreading false claims about the facility.

“Another day, another hoax about ICE detention facilities. Sanctuary politicians are spreading categorically false smears about ICE's Delaney Hall facility in New Jersey. These sanctuary politicians need to stop with the political theatre.”

The department’s ICE releases and statements have provided the federal side of the dispute, while state officials have expanded legal support for detained residents.

New Jersey raises legal defense funding

Sherrill increased funding for the Detention Deportation Defense Initiative to $20.2 million. The money is intended to provide emergency legal counsel to detained residents as arrests increase.

The funding response follows the targeted operations, the detention-center strike and the broader dispute over local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. The state’s executive order remains at the center of the federal lawsuit.

The conflict now extends across several fronts: neighborhood arrests, traffic stops, detention expansion, facility protests and competing claims over federal authority. Each side is using a different mechanism to press its position.

Federal officials say the agency is pursuing people they identify as dangerous, while New Jersey officials and advocacy groups have challenged detention practices and federal access. The next legal development will come through US v. State of New Jersey, while the Roxbury Township warehouse remains slated for conversion into a detention and processing hub.