San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero will meet Tuesday at 9:00 AM at City Hall with Rebecca González Ramos, director of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), to request an administrative investigation into recent immigration raids in San Juan. Romero, of the New Progressive Party, said in a RadioIsla 1320 interview that the meeting follows a letter he sent González Ramos citing possible civil rights violations against people recording officers, threats by ICE officers to pepper-spray anyone filming, and raids in communities such as Río Piedras and Barrio Obrero where most residents are US citizens of foreign origin or legal permanent residents.
He said he hopes to get more details on how the operations are being conducted and stressed that everything must comply with the law, without indiscriminately violating civil rights. Romero also reiterated that he will not declare San Juan a sanctuary city, arguing such a statement brings consequences and reprisals from federal authorities against cities and their citizens, and noting the capital already offers all support services to the immigrant community.
His letter questioned whether the recent raids were carried out with arrest warrants or under any legal authority allowing action without a prior order. The complaint followed raids last week in Barrio Obrero, Villa Palmeras in Santurce, and downtown Río Piedras, in an operation directed by the Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Miami office, which sent agents from Florida to Puerto Rico; in some videos agents threatened pepper spray and spoke in English, with no known detention or arrest warrants.