Around 15 people were taken into custody during an immigration raid today at the Alba Wine and Spirits warehouse in Edison, workers there and immigration advocates told News 12.
The operation, led by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, unfolded inside the facility located in the Heller Industrial Park. Workers say agents entered the building, asked for identification, and zip-tied those who couldn’t provide proper documents before taking them away in vans.
One worker, Diego, who was questioned and cleared, said, “They let me go because they had to but they were just harassing people for no reason. People over here are only working. Nobody is here doing nothing bad.”
Diego, a legal U.S. resident, was given a wristband and released after being processed. He said he was on break in his car when agents forced him inside the building to check his ID.
News 12 saw roughly 30 agents were involved in the raid. As word spread, relatives of workers began arriving at the site with identification.
Those arrested are being taken to detention centers in either Elizabeth or Delaney Hall in Newark.
Alba Wine and Spirits has not yet commented on the incident.