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ICE agents raided Passaic, New Jersey, arresting more than 75 people, including a U.S. citizen

Over roughly a week in July 2026, ICE agents conducted a series of street raids in Passaic, New Jersey, arresting more than 75 people -- the most in the city since President Trump took office in January 2025 -- including at least one U.S. citizen, with most of those detained having no criminal history. Agents tackled and handcuffed residents in front of their homes and on street corners, with arrests peaking on July 18, the same day a detainee later transferred to the nearby Delaney Hall facility began the medical emergency that led to his death days later. Passaic's mayor said ICE had shifted from targeting people on a specific list to arresting "whoever they can get."

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
Passaic, New Jersey

Abuses documented

Actors

Over roughly a week in July 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted a surge of raids across Passaic, New Jersey, arresting more than 75 people -- the most in the city since President Trump took office in January 2025 -- including at least one U.S. citizen, according to a Documented analysis of ICE arrest data from the Deportation Data Project. Agents wearing black masks, hats, and green ICE vests grabbed men from in front of their homes and off street corners, tackling and handcuffing some in full view of neighbors; arrests statewide doubled that month, and nationwide ICE arrests in July 2026 were the highest of any month of Trump's second term. Arrests in Passaic hit a high on July 18, the same day one of those detained, Jose Efrain Chajon Raxon, was transferred to the GEO Group-run Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, where he suffered a medical emergency and died days later -- a death this archive separately records as an ICE record-keeping violation (federal-deaths-in-custody-22e9301e). The vast majority of those arrested nationwide by ICE in July had no criminal history, and many in Passaic were detained while driving to work or to appointments.

Passaic Mayor Hector Lora, who said the city was not given notice of a specific ICE operation but became aware of increased federal enforcement activity, described a shift in tactics: "Before, they were going after a person on a target list. Now, it appears to be whoever [they can get]." City residents, most of Hispanic or Latino origin, organized rapid-response patrols, Know Your Rights trainings, and a July 17 rally at Passaic City Hall in response to the raids; a spokesperson for GEO Group referred inquiries to ICE, and ICE did not respond to requests for comment about the rise in arrests.

Why we recorded this

Immigration enforcement carries less routine judicial and public scrutiny than ordinary policing, which is exactly why force used during it needs independent accountability. Over about a week in July 2026, ICE agents tackled and handcuffed people on Passaic, New Jersey streets in a surge of arrests that swept up more than 75 people, including at least one U.S. citizen, most with no criminal record. This archive records the raid's scale and manner because indiscriminate, forceful street enforcement against a community -- not an isolated incident -- is itself the kind of unchecked use of state power that due process exists to check.

Sources

  1. Violent ICE Raid in New Jersey Sent Dozens to Delaney Hall and One Immigrant to His Death — Documented investigative accessed August 28, 2026
  2. Passaic Residents Rally Against ICE Amidst Growing Immigration Concerns — The Beacon (William Paterson University) investigative accessed August 28, 2026

See also