Congress members Adriano Espaillat and Nydia Velázquez and Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernández on Friday repudiated recent raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Puerto Rico and backed eliminating or reforming the agency, hoping Democrats’ victory in the U.S. midterm legislative elections will allow it. Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said at a press conference at the Casa Dominicana in Villa Palermas that Governor Jenniffer González personally promised him she would not make the Puerto Rican government an agent of ICE, but that the administration handed over personal data of more than 6,000 immigrants to the agency in January 2025.
Zero ICE in schools, in hospitals, in churches
He said aggressive raids fracture working families. Velázquez said that when the new Congress is sworn in in January, "ICE’s abuse is over", citing pending measures such as banning masks covering agents’ faces, requiring body cameras, and legally barring immigration agents from schools and churches. She referenced an operation by ICE’s Miami ERO office, supported by Puerto Rican agents, that raided Barrio Obrero, Villa Palmeras, central Río Piedras from October 22 to 25, a business in Canóvanas, and the San Antonio de Padua church in Río Piedras.
She also rejected that PNP and PPD senators backed Senate Bill 1062, amended from its original aim of protecting migrant students’ rights. Hernández, PPD president, said he would review the final text before judging party senators but stated: "Zero ICE in schools, in hospitals, in churches."