Thursday’s temperature in Morristown, already pushing 90 and wrapped in thick Canadian wildfire smoke, was ratcheted up by ICE officers in hot pursuit.
Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents chased someone through backyards on Lincoln Street towards George Gramby Park, damaging a low wooden fence en route, according to residents there. They did not know how the foot chase ended.
Social media were sizzling with suppertime sightings of unmarked black, silver and white SUVs, disgorging ICE officers — some in vests marked “Police,” some behind masks despite a state ban of the practice — into the Second Ward, where a raid detained 11 individuals in January.
It’s unclear how many arrests were made this time.
“I do not have a number, but can confirm ICE grabbed multiple people,” Mayor Tim Dougherty said on Thursday night. Morristown Green has reached out to the federal Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE.
Near the Lincoln/Abbett Avenue intersection, a teenaged Hispanic girl ran after departing ICE vehicles screaming “get out of here” and clutching car keys she grabbed from a male friend who fled on foot, said a barber who captured a few seconds of video on his phone.
Video by EWF Mally Gee, a local artist and barber, purports to show a teen running after ICE vehicles on Abbett Avenue, July 16, 2026.
Another video posted online purported to show an unmarked ICE vehicle darting onto a sidewalk or driveway in apparent pursuit of a man sprinting away, on what looks like Martin Luther King Avenue near Spring Street. Yet another video appears to show ICE officers near the entrance to Patriots Path on MLK.
Sam — an Hispanic resident who, like virtually everyone interviewed for this story, declined to give his full name for fear of retribution — said he was driving home from Chick-fil-A with his son and three of the boy’s friends around 5:30 pm when they nearly got slammed by a silver Explorer rushing from a driveway onto Martin Luther King Avenue. He presumed it was ICE.
Second Ward residents said they’ve seen ICE agents at the Beverly Gardens apartments and Manahan Village this week, too.
Photos and videos online showed some wearing masks. Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed a state law in March prohibiting law enforcement officers from covering their faces under most circumstances.
“We’re not going to tolerate masked, roving militias pretending to be well-trained law enforcement agents,” Sherrill, a Democrat, said at the time.
The Trump administration is suing New Jersey to overturn the ban, and ICE agents largely have ignored it in clashes with protesters outside the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark. Similar measures are being challenged in New York, Connecticut, Virginia and Philadelphia. California’s mask ban was struck down by a federal judge.
“Permitting officers and agents to cover their faces or remove visible identifying information from their uniforms helps to reduce the risk of doxxing by limiting the ability of facial recognition technology to identify the officer or agent,” the New York Times quoted the government lawsuit against New York as saying.
The latest round of local ICE activity follows a spate of operations in Dover, and comes at a time of heightened tensions nationally, in the wake of fatal ICE shootings of immigrants in Texas and Maine. A Mexican national died this week in Florida when he ran from ICE and was struck by a tractor trailer. Meanwhile, Minnesota authorities continue to investigate the January killings of two U.S. citizens by ICE agents in Minneapolis.
ICE is under White House pressure to boost arrests to 2,000 per day across the country, the Times has reported. The Supreme Court last month affirmed President Trump’s power to deport hundreds of thousands of Haitians and Syrians with temporary protected status, a program that accepts people fleeing civil strife or natural disasters in their native countries.
Nancy, a Morristown resident for nearly 40 years, said she now carries documentation wherever she goes.
“They’re just randomly targeting, you know, brown people,” she said. “So my my concern is always: Are they going to pick me up, without verifying my status?”
This video, courtesy of kyleontheroof via Reddit, purports to show an ICE agent in a vehicle giving chase to a man darting across a street in Morristown, July 16, 2026.
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Brian, agreed. I, too, appreciate ICE.
When we see all of the pro-illegal and anti-ICE protesters they usually say that enforcement of our immigration laws is racist. They do that for two reasons. First, as a red herring to deflect the argument. Second, because that’s the best they have. That is their automatic go-to.
To be an illegal is not about race.
So when someone tells me that I am racist for wanting ICE to do its job I ask them what their favorite Casio G-Shock is.
Thank you ICE!
Gee isn’t it AMAZING how despite the propaganda the people have come to the conclusion as a majority we don’t want these people here. Now either all of us are racist or
1.) They do not share our values and people have noticed (along with the onset of trash everywhere) and 2. The media has done nothing but scrutinize the people who are protecting us and insulted many of us with brains
By no means a racist person here but this is what happens when you allow borders to be completely open. Martin Luther King ave is especially rough, we aren’t talking about law abiding citizens. It’s men so drunk they can barely stand up, making obscene gestures to women walking around, and Modelo cans littered everywhere. They camp out on patriots path and pass out on the benches. I’m sure there’s situations that are unjust and that’s absolutely terrible but can everyone please take a look at how we got here? You can’t just let EVERYONE in to your country. Period. Before the social justice warriors make a comment on this send your daughters to walk down MLK anytime after 6:00 PM- I guarantee you’ll change your mind about this one.
good to see them getting swept up and removed. enough of costing the taxpayers god knows how much, and the tax on the quality of life for those of us in the comunity. Next send em to the parking lot at Home Depot Passaic, better bring a bus to ship them out in.
To me, it’s a pompous, pitiful soul who gets offended by law enforcement folks doing their job and enforcing our laws.
These same types, for some really bizarre reason, want to roll out the welcome mat to people whose first act in this country is to violate our laws. They love how these illegals jump to the head of the line, pushing past those who are working on immigrating LEGALLY.
They prefer to allow unvetted illegals by the millions to waltz in, use our resources, commit serious crimes, and they want them to be able to vote, etc. Many of these illegals don’t learn our language, they don’t assimilate, and they take the jobs of citizens. They also drive up housing prices by using those resources. Their supporters and enablers are as bad (or worse) than they are.
To me, it’s a pompous, pitiful soul who gets a kick out of hearing that ICE was in Morristown rounding up people, humiliating and detaining them.
For those who love detainers and deportations, it must be reassuring to you to know you currently have the favored skin color, ethnicity and birthplace. Yet life always changes and I wonder who will be on future target lists.
Jeff, you overstate the effect of the Supremacy Clause, which applies only if a duly enacted federal STATUTE is in conflict with a duly enacted state STATUTE. Until Congress decides that ICE agents should wear masks and codifies that in a federal statute, which is then duly signed into law by the president, New Jersey can prohibit law enforcement officers generally from wearing masks. Under our system of federalism, and the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, power is shared by the US government and the states.
I love to see a little good news on the morning! Sorry to hear about the damaged fence, though.
As far as the masks, the Supremacy Clause applies. The states don’t get to tell the federal government what to do.
The raids, as good as they are, are mostly for show. If they were serious they would target the enablers who are violating federal law.
I have never seen a report of ICE agents out in public without masks on regardless of the air quality. We don’t have to pretend not to understand what is happening.
The air quality was terrible yesterday. Not trying to be political here but maybe the agents were wearing the masks because of the poor air quality? the sun was orange last night!