Immigration enforcement activity has become increasingly visible across Lakewood over the past two weeks, prompting fear among undocumented residents as advocates report agents operating in downtown neighborhoods, near churches and around Ocean County Park.
LAKEWOOD, NJ — A growing federal immigration enforcement presence across Lakewood is generating fear and anxiety within the township’s immigrant and illegal migrant community, with residents and advocacy groups reporting sightings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents throughout downtown Lakewood and surrounding neighborhoods.
Videos and eyewitness accounts circulating during the past two weeks have shown federal vehicles, agents and immigration arrests at multiple locations around the township. ICE has not publicly announced a new large-scale Lakewood operation or released a tally of arrests connected specifically to the most recent activity. A recent Jackson Township incident where a young baby was killed by an illegal migrant sparked the national debate centering on Lakewood Township.
The increased visibility follows months of federal immigration enforcement in Lakewood, including an earlier operation at a local supermarket that resulted in 18 immigration arrests.
Now immigrant advocates say the continuing presence is changing daily routines for some families, with concern spreading about encounters with federal agents while traveling to work, taking children to school or attending church.
Cosecha says families are living with fear
Cosecha New Jersey, the state branch of the immigrant-rights organization Movimiento Cosecha, posted a statement Thursday alleging federal agents had been operating near a Route 88 church and using Ocean County Park as a location to transfer detainees between vehicles.
“These people are not criminals, they are nannies, housekeepers, cooks, landscapers and contributing members in our town,” said one Lakewood resident who wished to speak to us in Downtown Lakewood who only would give his first name, Yitz. “It is wrong what they are doing. They need to focus on the criminals and give these hardworking people a path to citizenship.”
Those specific allegations have not been independently confirmed by ICE, Ocean County officials or local law enforcement.
The organization said families have become increasingly concerned about enforcement occurring in places regularly used by the immigrant community.
“Our children should not have to go to school AFRAID of whether their mom and dad will come home at the end of the day,”Cosecha said.
Cosecha also alleged that children traveling to school have witnessed federal agents taking people into custody and called on community members to help families affected by immigration enforcement.
The group described the current environment as one of fear and vulnerability and urged residents to assist with transportation, detention searches and other support efforts.
Claims of activity at Ocean County Park
Cosecha specifically alleged that immigration agents have been using Ocean County Park at 659 Ocean Avenue along Route 88 to bring detainees before transferring them into other federal vehicles.
Ocean County Park sits along one of the main east-west corridors through northern Ocean County and directly borders neighborhoods with a substantial immigrant population.
No public statement from Ocean County has confirmed that the park has been formally used as an ICE staging area or detainee-transfer location.
The advocacy group also alleged that agents have waited in church parking areas while conducting enforcement activity.
Those claims remain allegations from Cosecha unless confirmed by federal authorities, county officials or additional independent evidence.
Federal enforcement already well established in Lakewood
The recent sightings are not Lakewood’s first encounter with stepped-up federal immigration enforcement.
Shore News Network previously reported that ICE activity surged around Lakewood earlier this month, with videos showing federal vehicles and agents conducting apparent enforcement operations at several locations.
Federal data reported earlier this year showed that 114 people were arrested by ICE in Lakewood between February 2025 and May 2026, substantially more than in neighboring Ocean County municipalities.
A major ICE action at El Oaxaqueño supermarket earlier this summer resulted in 18 immigrants being detained, an operation that drew national attention to immigration enforcement in the township.
Enforcement increase follows two deadly Ocean County cases
The latest federal presence comes after two high-profile criminal cases involving defendants who federal authorities said were in the country unlawfully.
The first involved an Aug. 28 crash in nearby Jackson Township that killed 9-month-old Yitzchok Rosenberg and injured his mother and 5-year-old sister.
Prosecutors said Maria CobonGuzman, 20, was driving a Ford Fusion through the NPGS grocery store parking lot on West County Line Road when she struck the family.
Investigators said CobonGuzman had never possessed a valid driver’s license in New Jersey or any other state.
ICE later identified CobonGuzman as a Guatemalan national subject to a removal order issued by an immigration judge on July 31. ICE also placed a detainer on the vehicle’s owner, Ariadna Lazaro-Flores, a Mexican national whom the agency said had previously been processed for voluntary return five times in 2023.
Both women remain criminal defendants, and the charges against them have not been proven in court.
The visible increase in ICE activity around Lakewood followed that case, although ICE has not publicly said the current operations are directly connected to the child’s death.
Drunken Lakewood crash case ended with 20-year sentence
The renewed enforcement activity also coincides with the conclusion of another case that became part of the broader debate over immigration enforcement in New Jersey.
Raul Luna-Perez was sentenced Sept. 11 to 20 years in state prison after pleading guilty to two counts of aggravated manslaughter and one count of assault by auto in connection with a July 26, 2025 crash in Lakewood.
Luna-Perez was driving a Dodge Durango along Cross Street when prosecutors said he crossed the double-yellow line at approximately 60 mph and struck a Nissan Sentra head-on.
Maria Pleitez, 42, of Lakewood, was killed at the scene. An 11-year-old girl riding in the front passenger seat also died from her injuries.
Prosecutors said Luna-Perez was intoxicated, had cocaine metabolites in his blood and had passed four vehicles immediately before the collision. His two 10-year aggravated manslaughter sentences were ordered to run consecutively, and he must serve at least 85 percent before becoming eligible for parole.
Shore News Network previously reported that Luna-Perez had prior encounters with police before the fatal crash, including prior drunken-driving arrests and a domestic violence arrest.
Federal immigration authorities previously identified him as a Mexican national unlawfully present in the United States. His case became part of a broader dispute over what happens when undocumented immigrants encounter state and local law enforcement before later committing serious crimes.
Immigration enforcement now visible across daily Lakewood life
For Lakewood’s undocumented population, however, the immediate issue is no longer an abstract policy fight.
Advocates say federal agents are now being seen frequently enough around Lakewood immigration corridors that some families are altering routines and watching for enforcement vehicles before leaving their homes.
The atmosphere is especially tense around downtown Lakewood, Route 88 and neighborhoods with large Latino populations.
Cosecha said the community deserves “dignity and protection” and argued that families should not live with uncertainty over whether relatives will return home after leaving for work or school.
ICE has not announced how long the current enforcement activity will continue, how many people have been detained during the latest Lakewood operations or whether the agency is conducting a coordinated township-wide initiative.
For now, the federal presence remains visible, while immigrant families and advocacy groups continue documenting what they say are enforcement actions unfolding throughout Ocean County news communities.