An ICE agent in New Jersey opened fire on a vehicle after a person they attempted to detain fled the scene.
A manhunt is underway after federal agents attempted to apprehend an individual in a sleepy Jersey Shore township where President Donald Trump dominated Kamala Harris 9:1 in 2024.
The agent fired shots near a Wawa convenience store in Stafford Township on Monday morning after the person got into a vehicle and drove away, allegedly striking the federal officer while fleeing in a van.
The agent, who will make a full recovery, reportedly shattered the van’s windows with gunfire. It remains unclear whether the agent struck the fleeing individual. Authorities have not publicly identified the suspect or disclosed why the person was being sought.
Ocean County is one of New Jersey’s deepest-red counties and a reliable Trump stronghold. But the incident could become a flashpoint in the region, where immigrant labor plays a significant role in the tourism economy of nearby shore communities, including Long Beach Island.
Additionally, polls show that two out of three people in the state believe immigration enforcement has gone too far.
“Immigrants have been in Stafford for decades with no problems,” one resident wrote in a local Facebook group where the incident is being discussed. “They are respectful and hardworking. ICE shows up and nothing but chaos.”
In a press release, local law enforcement asserted that they were not involved in the incident, citing the state’s Immigrant Trust Directive, which limits police’s ability to assist federal immigration officers.
“The ongoing investigation is not being conducted by Stafford Township Police,” they wrote in a press release. “Our role at this point is to manage traffic and secure the crime scene.”
“Who shoots at a van? [ICE] Training is brutal,” one person who identified as a Stafford resident commented on the post.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and ICE for comment.
This isn’t the first time the Garden State has become a flashpoint in Trump’s immigration crackdown. Last month, a standoff between local activists and immigration agents erupted outside a detention center in Newark, New Jersey, thrusting the state into the national spotlight. The privately run, 1,000-bed facility houses roughly 300 detainees, many of whom launched a hunger strike over allegations of rotten food, broiling heat, and withheld medical care.
On Memorial Day, protests hit a climax when Sen. Andy Kim was left struggling to breathe after being pepper-sprayed by ICE agents outside the detention center.
Kim had tried to broker a truce—agents pulling back their tactical teams in exchange for advocates inspecting cars leaving the facility—before the agents surged forward and fired pepper balls into the crowd, according to NJ.com.
