Trump's ICE Agents Arrest Puerto Rican Military Veteran in Deportation Raid

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained a U.S. military veteran after raiding a seafood store in New Jersey, officials say.

On Thursday, 10 to 12 ICE agents entered Luis Janota's seafood store after allegedly being tipped off regarding the presence of undocumented individuals, reported PIX 11. According to Janota, they were not looking for anyone specific.

"I was confused; they took three people who did not have any documentation on them," Janota said. "I asked them [the agents] what documentation they were looking for, and they said it was a license or a passport. I thought, who walks around with a passport?"

Three people, including a U.S. military veteran, were taken into custody, reported Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. Janota noted that officials mainly asked for documentation from his Hispanic employees.

"They did not ask me for documentation for my American workers, Portuguese workers, or white workers," Janota said.

"One of the guys was a military veteran, and the way he looked to me was because he was Hispanic. He is Puerto Rican and the manager of our warehouse. It looked to me like they were specifically going after certain kinds of people — not every kind, because they did not ask me for documentation for my American workers, Portuguese workers, or white workers," Janota continued.

Mayor Baraka issued a statement on Thursday afternoon condemning ICE's actions in the raid.

"This egregious act is in plain violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees 'the right of the people be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures' Newark will not stand by idly while people are being unlawfully terrorized," Baraka said.

"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement may encounter U.S. citizens while conducting field work and may request identification to establish an individual's identity as was the case during a targeted enforcement operation at a worksite on Jan. 23 in Newark, New Jersey," an ICE spokesperson said in a statement. "This is an active investigation and per ICE policy, we cannot discuss ongoing investigations."