14 undocumented immigrants arrested in ICE raid at Norristown, Pennsylvania, supermarket
Fourteen undocumented immigrants were arrested after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in Norristown, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday morning, a spokesperson for ICE said.
ICE said in a statement that federal agents from Homeland Security Investigations, the Internal Revenue Service and ICE conducted a federal court-authorized search at Super Gigante at the West Norriton Farmers Market on West Main Street.
"During the execution of the search warrant, 14 individuals were encountered who did not have legal status to be in the United States," ICE wrote in a statement. "These 14 individuals were taken into ICE custody pending removal proceedings."
Carlos Obrador, head consul of the Mexican Consulate in Philadelphia, said in a statement that at least six of the detainees are Mexican nationals.
"It is important to point out that regardless of their immigration status, people have basic rights," Obrador said in a statement. "If someone is detained by immigration authorities, they have the right to request to speak with their consulate. The Mexican Consulate is prepared to provide our nationals with legal assistance in the event they require it."
Unides Para Servir Norristown, a grassroots Latino advocacy organization in Norristown, that "more than 25 ICE vehicles entered our community with the sole purpose of intimidating and attacking our families."
Denisse Agurto, the executive director of Unides Para Servir Norristown, disputes that 14 people were arrested and claims 23 undocumented immigrants were detained.
Unides Para Servir Norristown said its rapid response team began monitoring the situation early Wednesday morning after spotting unmarked law enforcement vehicles in a nearby parking lot around 7 a.m.
"We can see the pattern, they get all together, then they come out in Norristown," Agurto said.
Immigration activists said over the past three to four weeks, Marshall Street has become a hot spot for ICE agents. The street is a corridor of Latino-owned businesses like food markets, restaurants and clothing stores.
"We are unprotected," Agurto said. "Even in Harrisburg, the governor knows, but they all continue saying we don't know. They pretend it's nothing happening!"
CBS News Philadelphia reached out to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's office for comment, but we have yet to receive a response.
At a vigil held outside the supermarket, 13-year-old José Arroyo spoke through tears about the fear spreading through his Norristown community, where Latinos make up about 32% of the population.
"I sometimes sit in my room and think about what would happen if something happened to my family," Arroyo said. "I have two younger brothers that I would have to take care of. I don't think we should suffer just because of being a certain color."
Stephanie Vincent, a member of the Community for Change Montgomery County, said the raid was the latest in a series of immigration operations in the Philadelphia suburb.
"I don't think folks really understand how this is happening … I think the wider public probably thinks it's just Norristown, or just Philadelphia or just on the news in California," Vincent said. "But this is literally happening in towns in Montgomery County. In Ambler, in Bridgeport, in Conshohocken, in Lansdale, in Pottstown and also in neighboring counties. So, this is happening everywhere and people need to realize that these human rights abuses, the Constitution being trampled on is happening right here in Montgomery County."
During the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners Meeting on Wednesday, multiple residents, including Vincent, asked the county to do more to protect its residents against ICE enforcement.
"This is bigger than immigration," . "This is about the soul of our country."
