Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman said her office is looking into the actions of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Trenton recently. “I’ve been briefed on reports of ICE agents covering security cameras at a Trenton auto repair shop and detaining multiple individuals without a warrant,” Watson Coleman said in a public post on Facebook. She followed that just by saying her office was monitoring the situation and would release information as available. There has been no further statement from her office on the topic since that statement early Friday afternoon. Local immigrant rights group Resistencia en Accion NJ will be holding a press conference on Tuesday at the shop where the incident happened, Agudo’s Repair Shop on S. Olden Ave in Trenton. The group said in an emailed statement that ICE agents entered the repair shop on Friday and “kidnapped 3 workers.” “Security camera footage from within the shop shows agents restraining one worker with his face against a shelf with car oil containers and other chemicals,” the statement said. “After the agents realized that they were being recorded, they used a cardboard box to block the camera’s view.” They are holding the press conference at 10 a.m. on Tuesday to allow the family and supporters tell their story and how the ICE actions are impacting their families and the community at large. “Trenton has been one of the most targeted cities by ICE in New Jersey,” Resistencia’s statement said. “The kidnappings of immigrant workers and families is monstrous and cannot continue. The fact that ICE agents blocked a security camera’s view of their actions shows their intention to avoid accountability. To protect our communities, Resistencia en Accion has a Rapid Response program, but we urgently need local authorities in Mercer County to join efforts to keep neighborhoods safe from illegal raids. ICE does not belong in New Jersey and it is time for Trenton policy to reiterate it.” Watson Coleman has been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration and of ICE’s actions. She is part of an effort to stop ICE from building detention centers in New Jersey. “ICE, in its actions around the country, has displayed an increasing dismissal of human rights. New Jersey at large, including the community of Roxbury, has rejected this as antithetical to the values of our great state,” said Watson Coleman in a statement about ICE trying to build a facility in Roxbury. “The Trump administration’s commitment to rewarding the private prison industry, the first megadonor to max-out to the President’s political campaigns, has been made apparent.” “The people of New Jersey have said loud and clear,” Watson Coleman said, “‘ICE is not welcome here.’” ...read more read less