Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair at Lackawanna Plaza Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, following arrests by ICE on the avenue the day before. (MATT KADOSH/MONTCLAIR LOCAL)
Two workers from Raymond’s, a popular Montclair restaurant, were detained by federal immigration agents while on their way to work Wednesday morning, according to co-workers and public records.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained the men, Macedonia Merino Maldonado, 19, and Jero Jimenez Garcia, 29, both kitchen staff at Raymond’s, on Bloomfield Avenue near Lackawanna Plaza Wednesday morning, co-workers said. A federal detainee locator confirmed they are being held at the Delaney Hall Detention Facility in Newark. But ICE has not detailed the circumstances of the arrests.
“It makes me sad. We all feel so sad. We can’t do anything about it,” Bridget Capawanna, a server at Raymond’s, said. “I don’t know what to do.”
Living in Montclair
Capawanna said Merino Maldonado and Jimenez Garcia were both living in Montclair. The federal detainee locator tool lists the men’s country of birth as Mexico but does not offer additional details.
Both an immigrant advocate and, separately, a township official said more people may have been swept up. Those details, however, could not be confirmed.
“There were five people arrested yesterday, and all of them are Montclair residents,” Jose German, a local immigrant advocate, said. Community members are working to locate and assist the families, German said.
Laura Kenny, a resident with the Democratic political advocacy group Montclair Indivisible, has pressed the township for recent actions to support the immigrant community. It comes amid increasing enforcement under President Donald Trump.
‘Will Not Capitulate’
“The town of Montclair has made it very clear that they do not want ICE disappearing our immigrant neighbors, many of whom work in our restaurants and local businesses, attend our schools and strengthen our community in numerous ways,” Kenny said.
“ICE may be moving quietly through our streets now but our police department, our business owners, our temples, our churches and other religious organizations as well as Montclair community members and students will not capitulate,” she said.
Montclair police spokesperson Lt. Terence Turner said the department had no record of an incident at Raymond’s on Wednesday. Turner did not answer follow up questions asking about ICE enforcement elsewhere in Montclair or say if local police would have been advised of such.
Workers at the restaurant Noches De Colombia on nearby Elm Street, the Dunkin’ at the Bloomfield Avenue corner of Lackawanna Plaza and nearby Minia’s Breakfast and Lunch confirmed ICE activity in that area on Bloomfield Avenue. A worker at Noches De Colombia said nobody from that restaurant had been detained.
ICE Spokesperson
ICE spokesperson Christine Cuttita said in an email Thursday afternoon she was working on a request seeking to know the circumstances of the arrests, the status of Merino Maldonado and Jimenez Garcia’s cases and the identities of any other people detained in Wednesday’s enforcement.
The federal detentions come after Montclair’s town council in April joined a growing number of towns to bar federal immigration agencies from township property and records without a judicial warrant. In July, the council voted to close its Citizens Bank account over the institution’s then-lending relationships with companies that operate ICE’s privately run immigration detention facilities, including Delaney Hall. Township officials have also formally backed state-level measures to limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
NEWARK, NJ 05/10/2026 DELANEY HALL: Barbed wire lines the fence surrounding Delaney Hall in Newark, NJ. Photo by Dani Mazariegos.
‘Extremely Concerning’
Deputy Mayor Susan Shin Andersen on Thursday said she found the news of the ICE detentions “extremely concerning.”
“These are people who work in our town and are valuable members of our community,” Shin Andersen said. “It really does underscore the work that I and the rest of the council had done to put protections in place and support the state’s effort to keep the community safe from this kind of activity.”
She said she would be reaching out to elected federal representatives, including Democrats LaMonica McIver and Analilia Mejia, whose District 10 and District 11 both include Montclair.
Delaney Hall has seen three people held at the facility die in recent months. Violent clashes between law enforcement and protesters outside the detention center have drawn national attention.
Mayor Dr. Renee Baskerville said she could not confirm details of the detentions. Baskerville, however, discussed keeping residents safe.
“The safety of our residents should be upheld — of all the residents,” Baskerville said. “And we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that all of our residents are safe.”
How you can help
The Rev. Anya Sammler, co-minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair, said the detentions in Montclair come amid rising ICE enforcement across New Jersey. Sammler listed three immigrant support organizations seeking volunteers: Dire, Cosecha and New Labor. They run Essex Rapid Response, Sammler said.
“There is increasing ICE activity across the state with an added increase of the targeting of pedestrians,” Sammler said. “All three organizations coordinating rapid response are expressing an urgent need for all volunteers in all capacities.”
To report ICE activity, call 888-347-3767. When submitting your report include: the exact location, the time of the incident, what you’re witnessing, photos or videos.
People with an interest in getting trained and supporting immigrant advocacy work can email diresupport@improvingnj.org.
Matt Kadosh
Matt Kadosh is an award-winning reporter with a focus on local government, education and public safety. He fills information needs and seeks solutions with rigorous reporting. More by Matt Kadosh
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