Puerto Rico Governor Jenniffer González criticized on Friday the weekend operation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in which residents of San Juan and Canóvanas reported aggressive interventions, long weapons, and entry into a church and businesses without judicial warrants. Asked by El Nuevo Día at the Puerto Rico Restaurant Association (Asore) convention, she said: "I think the manner is excessive. Federal agencies can do their work and prosecute those who are breaking the law without having to enter churches or businesses and create this chaos with people who have been here for years, who are good citizens. I am very attentive to that."
Federal agencies can do their work and prosecute those who are breaking the law without having to enter churches or businesses and create this chaos with people who have been here for years, who are good citizens.
The operation was led by the Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) office in Miami, which sent Florida agents to increase immigrant arrests in Puerto Rico. Raids took place in Barrio Obrero and Villa Palmeras in Santurce and Capetillo in Río Piedras, where Dominican nationals were detained, according to residents. Videos from activists show agents with uncovered faces, U.S. flags on their uniforms, speaking English and pushing residents who were filming.
Three agents entered the yard of the San Antonio de Padua Parish in Río Piedras, intimidating more than a dozen parishioners. San Juan Archbishop Eusebio Ramos Morales condemned the "intimidating" tactics. San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero Lugo wrote to Rebecca González Ramos of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) asking for an investigation.
She replied that HSI does not lead these operations and that ICE carries out its mission with integrity and due process. In January 2025, the Transportation and Public Works Department gave ICE data on more than 6,000 immigrants after a subpoena, which González has defended.