Trenton community rallies after man with pending green card is detained by ICE

🚨 ICE agents took a man into custody after stopping a van in Trenton

🚨 Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman has asked ICE to release him

🚨 Agents then went to a home in Trenton but could not produce a warrant

TRENTON — A Central Jersey congresswoman is calling for the release of a city man arrested by ICE on Thursday morning.

Julio Lopez Najera, a Trenton resident, was detained before an ICE standoff at a home on Bayard Street.

ICE and HSI agents stopped Najera's van as he drove to work and then went to a home on Bayard Street and “used threats against Mr. Lopez Najera’s status to gain entry to the home," according to U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J. 12th District.

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Detained at Delaney Hall

A neighborhood watch group was alerted to the presence of ICE agents. The group called the police and surrounded the ICE agents on the ground, claiming they didn't have a warrant. Watson Coleman said ICE also refused to provide their identification.

Najera is being detained at Delaney Hall in Newark.

“Julio is an upstanding member of this community. He has been working, supporting his family with a pending application with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services seeking legal status. He has no criminal record. He is respected in his community. Most importantly, as a resident of the United States and the State of New Jersey, he has a right to due process. He should be released immediately,” Watson Coleman said in a statement.

Watson Coleman said Najera has a pending green card application and no criminal record.

ICE has acknowledged receipt of an email from New Jersey 101.5 about the Trenton raid but has declined to comment.

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