About 4:00 AM yesterday morning, several residents in Princeton were awakened by ICE agents shouting “Police!” at their doors. Claiming it was conducting a targeted operation, ICE agents stopped anyone on the streets who looked Latino or Hispanic, demanding information regarding their identity.
Driving in the Jackson-Witherspoon Street area, the agents who drove in unmarked cars started interrogating Hispanic men on bicycles. Word spread quickly throughout the neighborhood and when threatened with arrest. Several asked, “Where’s your warrant?” A warrant for arrest has a person’s name on it.
If this was a targeted operation, one would think you don’t go around asking anyone who looks Hispanic his name. There’s no question that none of us wants a criminal on our streets, but indiscriminate door banging and street interrogation could hardly be considered intelligent methods to find a suspect.
Prayer for the Day
Taken up from the nations and gathered from all countries,
We come home to you, O God, as we pray for healing;
Grant us a new Spirit and remove from us our hearts of stone,
So we may be your people living with a spirit of welcome.
May we recognize the many strands of our heritage,
As we live in this Nation, established to welcome all.
In the name of the One who gives us hearts of faith,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen
Thoughts for the Day
This kind of conduct has absolutely no place in our community or our country. I am working to get more information from federal agencies involved in order to fully understand what occurred.
U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman
This morning’s ICE activities in Princeton have left our community deeply troubled. As the Mayor and Council of Princeton, we believe that such federal actions, conducted without prior explanation, starkly contradict our core values of respect and dignity for all.
Joint statement by Princeton’s mayor and council
O Lord my God, in you I take refuge; save me from my pursuers, and deliver me,
Or like a lion they will tear me apart, drag me away with no one to rescue
Psalm 7: 1-2