NEWARK - State Senator Joe Cryan (D-20) today outside a federal courthouse here reiterated his criticism of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) policy to field masked agents.

Cryan grew up in Newark in the Vailsburg section, and is a former law enforcement officer, and the son of a law enforcement officer.

"I had the honor of being Union County sheriff," Cryan told the allies of U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-10).

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"When I watch people in masks, so afraid to do their job, I think to myself, 'How could this be in the United States of America?'"

Someone in the crowd yelled, "ICE out of New Jersey!"

Cryan said, "ICE out of New Jersey is absolutely right. When I watch that I'm absolutely horrified. This is your time. We've got our inspiration. Her name is LaMonica McIver."

McIver pleaded not guilty in June to three criminal charges stemming from an incident Delaney Hall in May, when McIver tried to protect Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. Armed and masked ICE agents had thrown the mayor in handcuffs as he and a congressional team, including McIver, U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, and U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez sought information about detainees inside the immigration detention facility.

Cryan added another observation about ICE.

"When I played basketball here, and if you watch [ICE reacting to McIver trying to defend herself and the mayor], watch it, and you say, 'How could this even be a foul? When I was playing three-on-three in Vailsburg if I called foul for that, I would get laughed at and told to man up.

"You and me together," Cryan told the crowd. "It's time we man up."

It's not the first time Cryan criticized ICE.

At a civility forum earlier last month at Rutgers Eagleton, Cryan objected strongly to the structures of political violence, including the Trump Administration's prosecution of undocumented workers.

"Alligator alley is a stain on this country each and every day," said the former Union County Sherriff.

He added of ICE, "If you have to wear a mask to do your job, then you probably shouldn't have your job."

The remark received applause among these young scholars in the packed room.