The bravery that many US citizens have shown standing up to ICE agents recently is enough to give us hope in this world. The fact that things came to this is so tiring, though. A New Jersey woman decided to stand up to ICE agents when they infiltrated her own neighborhood in Trenton. Instead of letting them easily guide immigrants away from their homes, she decided to say something. It’s safe to say this woman cares about her fellow neighborhood from the bottom of her heart.
Dayan (@dayannj1) shared a TikTok video outlining an ICE raid that took place at 36 Bayard Street in Trenton, New Jersey on August 21. In the video, ICE agents are taking a woman into custody and Dayan tells them, “Well, I’d like to see her arrest.” They tell her to back off and explain, “You have no right to see anything.” Dayan requests a warrant from them but they won’t show her one. One of the agents tells her, “You were arrested already in Sussex County, you’re gonna get arrested again.” Dayan really doesn’t care what the agent has to say and screams to her neighbors, “Keep the door closed! Do not answer the door! Immigration Customs Enforcement is in the neighborhood! If you are an immigrant, stay home!”
Dayan records all of the officers standing in the area and continues to tell them, “Shame on all of you.” She points at a man they took into custody and asks, “Are you okay?” The bully ICE agent responds, “No, he’s not okay, he’s under arrest.” At this point, the agent has taken out his own phone and is also recording his interaction with Dayan, likely as a scare tactic.
In the middle of her video, Dayan turns to a young ICE agent and asks him, “What’s your badge number?” while he looks on in disbelief. When he won’t tell her his name she says, astonished, “You’re brown too, DUDE! Dude! Why are you doing that?” Another agent says, “Don’t say that” as if she’s just supposed to keep her mouth shut on the matter. It’s obvious that Dayan’s words are getting to them and making them think long and hard about their life choices.
Dayan continues to instruct neighbors to not open their door and tells them that the rest of the neighborhood is coming out to support them. You can see other neighbors also recording the exchange and she tells them that they can legally record these encounters. She demands warrants from more ICE agents but none of them can produce a warrant for her. She says, “You’re abducting people, you absolutely are.”
Commenters love the way Dayan supported her neighborhood and didn’t give in to the agents. One person pointed out, “It’s going to be a woman that saves the country.” Another said, “Their shame is so obvious. I’ve never known anyone LEO not ready and proud with their name and badge number unless they did something wrong.” The fact that they infiltrated an entire neighborhood and wouldn’t present any warrant information to her is concerning. It just shows the extent ICE agents will go to as they physically kidnap people from their homes. Unfortunately, there seems to be no end in sight when it comes to these events.
