NJ and NY Elected Officials Demand Release of Over-3-Decade Jersey City Resident Detained by ICE

Jersey City Councilman-at-Large Rolando R. Lavarro Jr. and New York State Assemblymember Steven Raga on July 31 called for the immediate release of a 63-year-old Jersey City man detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since July 24, saying his arrest while driving to work has left his family without its primary provider.

Raul Raagas, known to family and friends as “Kuya Raul”—a Filipino honorific for an older male—is a native of Cebu City, Philippines, who first came to the United States in 1993 and has lived in New Jersey for more than three decades. He settled in Jersey City in the late 1990s, where he met his wife, Janet, and raised two children while working for years in sanitation services, according to a news release and a fundraising page for his family.

Raagas was arrested while driving to work in New Jersey and subsequently transferred to ICE custody at the CoreCivic Elizabeth Detention Center in Elizabeth, where he remains held, officials said. Family members describe him as the sole breadwinner for his household, and his detention has prompted community groups to organize support and seek diplomatic assistance.

Lavarro, a longtime Jersey City elected official who has previously pushed back against ICE detention contracts in Hudson County, said he has spoken with Raagas’ wife, urged the court to grant bond, and reached out to colleagues across multiple levels of government.

“Raul Raagas is my constituent and my kababayan—a member of my community—a devoted father and husband who has spent more than three decades building his life in this country and this city, only to be torn from his family and held in a detention cell,” Lavarro said in a statement released July 31. “His case is not isolated: hardworking, deeply rooted families across our state and country are being torn apart in the same way, and it is wrong. Raul belongs home with his family, and I demand an end to his detention and an immigration system rooted in fairness, fundamental rights, and basic human dignity.”

Raga, who represents the Little Manila neighborhood in Woodside, Queens, and has been active on immigrant justice issues, called Raagas’ detention “unconscionable” following a stop for a minor traffic infraction.

“I call on ICE to immediately release Raul Raagas and return him to his family and community,” Raga said. “He should be home with his family, not in ICE detention, where 51 of our neighbors have died since the beginning of the Trump administration. I will never stop standing with fellow elected officials like Councilman Lavarro and community advocates like Tanggol Migrante Northeast in the fight for immigrant justice and due process.”

On July 26, family members and advocates from Tanggol Migrante Northeast visited the Philippine Consulate General in New York to request diplomatic intervention. Their requests included a wellness check, assistance to prevent Raagas’ transfer out of state, and access to “Assistance to Nationals” funds, according to the release.

The case has drawn support from local organizations and labor advocates. One statement noted that Raagas is a member of LIUNA Local 741 and emphasized the severe financial hardship his detention has caused his family. A GoFundMe page established to support the family confirmed Raagas was taken by ICE on July 24 and is being held at the Elizabeth facility.

Jersey City officials have repeatedly raised concerns regarding daytime ICE enforcement operations in the city. In February, Mayor James Solomon called videos of residents being detained on their way to work “disturbing,” and the city has moved to limit municipal cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Lavarro has previously sponsored city council resolutions urging the county to end contracts housing ICE detainees, describing ICE operations as creating a “culture of fear.”