FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 24, 2026

Following Another ICE Murder, Over 200 Residents Pack ICE Watch and Non-Violence Town Hall Hosted by Analilia Mejia, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka

VIDEO: After the town hall and forum, Analilia Mejia joined Rep. Ayanna Pressley for a press gaggle responding to ICE murdering Alex Pretti

GLEN RIDGE, NJ — Following another fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis on Saturday morning, more than 200 people packed Christ Episcopal Church for an ICE Watch and Non-Violence town hall hosted by Analilia Mejia — candidate for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District — with Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, a member of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.

The event was organized in response to escalating ICE violence in NJ-11 and Minneapolis. In Morristown, ICE detained a father while he was picking up dinner, leaving his child abandoned, and arrested eleven people across the street at a laundromat. In Minnesota, ICE agents killed Renee Nicole Good, kidnapped two small children, and just this morning murdered Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at a VA hospital.

Analilia Mejia said, “ICE is beyond reform. It was never built to serve people who look like me or many of our communities. It breaks the very laws it claims to uphold and terrorizes immigrant communities across this nation and New Jersey, including U.S. citizens who don’t fit its narrow idea of who looks like an ‘American.’ It’s past time to abolish ICE, impeach Kristi Noem, shut down Delaney Hall, and fight for immigration reform rooted in dignity and humanity. We cannot keep funding ICE like seven Democrats and Republicans just did this week. Our communities deserve protection and elected officials who will actually stand with us.”

Mejia was joined by Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was arrested by ICE last May at Delaney Hall and Mejia was outside Delaney Hall at the time. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley also joined the event; both Rep. Pressley and Mejia have publicly called for the abolition of ICE and the impeachment of Secretary Kristi Noem.

“I need a partner in Congress — someone who will use their platform, their office, their pen to fight for all of us,” said Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. “We don’t need someone who waits until Democrats take back the gavel to stand up for what they believe in. We need someone who knows: It’s time to abolish ICE. It’s time to end the billionaire stranglehold on our economy. It’s time for a government that works for all of us. That someone is Analilia Mejia, my sister in service.”

“I know better than most people the depths ICE will stoop to evade accountability, which is why I support the only candidate in this race to say ‘Abolish ICE’ loudly and proudly: Analilia Mejia,” said Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was arrested and disappeared briefly by ICE last year. “This state-sponsored terror is taking place everywhere, from Minnesota to Morristown, and we need leaders who are unafraid to tell the truth and stand up for our communities.”

Following the town hall, local organizers facilitated a community training focused on how to respond to ICE activity and how to practice Kingian Nonviolence, the conflict-resolution framework rooted in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s teachings. Residents were guided on how to document and report ICE presence by calling the DIRE hotline (1-888-DIRE-SOS / 1-888-347-3767) and using the SALUTE framework, which tracks an agent’s size or strength, actions, location and direction of travel, uniforms or clothing, time and date, and any visible equipment or weapons.

The special primary election for New Jersey's 11th Congressional District will be held on Thursday, February 5th, 2026.

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