The number of people apprehended by officers with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Office in the Garden State last month declined, despite the federal government announcing nationwide raids that sparked protests across the state.
ICE officers in the state apprehended and detained 139 people during the month of January, according to Alvin Philips, the New Jersey spokesperson for ICE. The numbers fall in line with apprehensions for previous months and was actually lower than December.
"We have absolutely no part in enforcement that has occurred in other states," said Philips Thursday. "We are not targeting any individuals from Central America or anywhere else, we are targeting priority one and some cases priority two, as usual."
Under ICE's own guidelines, priority one cases are those who pose, "threats to national security, border security, and public safety," such as suspected terrorists and those convicted of major felonies. Priority two cases are those with serious misdemeanors, three or more misdemeanors or "significant" visa abusers.
"Whether these are new raids or ongoing enforcement is unclear, what's clear is that communities are reporting that ICE has been very active and visible in New Jersey in recent months," said Johanna Calle, spokesperson for the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. "These aggressive tactics are terrorizing immigrant families and children, who are more fearful than anyone can remember in recent memory, and that is a problem.
Last month, immigration advocates in the state were spurred into action after Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh C. Johnson announced that immigration officers would target certain undocumented immigrants for deportation across the U.S. -- particularly those families fleeing violence and poverty from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador since 2014.
In the first weekend in January, 121 people were taken into custody, primarily from Georgia, Texas and North Carolina, Johnson announced.
The numbers show that despite advocates' concerns and the government announcement, not much as changed in immigration enforcement in the Garden State.
Jorge Torres of ICE Free N.J. took issue with Philips' comments about ICE's actions in New Jersey. Phillps previously told NJ Advance Media, "There have been no raids in New Jersey, no doors have been kicked down."
Last month, ICE agents allegedly broke down a door, entered a New Brunswick home and detained a 20-year-old who had received Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
"ICE New Jersey says there are no raids and we have proof that it is happening," said Torres.
Torres said judging by January's decline in apprehensions, Johnson's announcement was most likely a scare tactic and that advocates stemmed the numbers of those detained.
"No matter which way you look at it, ICE is criminalizing our communities," said Torres. "They do this every day and every time, and even if the numbers are not the same they violate the human rights of the community."
In the last fiscal year -- which ran from Oct. 2014 to Oct. 2015 -- ICE officers in N.J. apprehended and detained 1,960 people. Of those detained, 1,130 were later convicted and sent back to their home county, according to Phillips.
As of the current fiscal year, 659 were apprehended. According to Phillips, a breakdown of those numbers by county and the number of those people who were sent back home was not available.
"We don't want people to think that we are going around breaking up families and homes," Phillips said.
U.S. Senators Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Cory Booker ( D-N.J.) have called for the Obama administration to put an end to the raids. Johnson, however, said last week no end was in sight.
"While the one-month decline in January is encouraging, this does not mean we can dial back our border security efforts," Johnson said in a Feb. 2 memo detailing a decline in people crossing the U.S-Mexico border. "Recent enforcement actions, which focus on those apprehended at the border on or after Jan. 1, 2014, will continue."
Advocates like Torres say people like Neito-Cruz and others are being swept up in the raids, regardless of numbers. As a result they will continue to protest, they said.
Fausto Giovanny Pinto may be reached at fpinto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @FGPreporting. Find NJ.com on Facebook.