Statement of Farahnaz Shemeem to Trenton City Council
319 E. State St.
Trenton, New Jersey
October 21, 2025

Hello, good evening, Council; my name is Farahnaz, [Trenton address]. I’m a Rapid Responder with Resistencia en Acción, an organization that supports families impacted by ICE operations. I’m here today to share what I’ve personally witnessed and to call your attention to what is happening in our city.

As someone who has grown up in Trenton, it is deeply painful to see the Trenton Police assisting ICE agents–agents who are breaking our laws, violating their own policies, and lying to families to get them out of their homes and cars. Instead of protecting the community, our officers are enabling ICE to terrorize our neighborhoods and enter spaces where they have no legal authority to be. The Trenton Police has been assisting ICE agents in creating intimidation which prevents people from exercising their constitutional rights, the right to remain in their private spaces, to record ICE, and to inform others of their rights.

I’ve spent more than seven years working in healthcare, serving the people of Trenton. I understand this community’s needs deeply. Yet our tax dollars are being wasted on this ICE/police partnership that seems to operate without any accountability. One of the officers involved, Sergeant Miles, known by many as “Murder Miles” because of his record of brutality, has a history that raises serious concerns. He arrested my friend Asma, who was simply warning neighbors that ICE was trying to abduct people without a warrant. He threatened to arrest me multiple times as well. Even the Mayor of Trenton and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman agreed that what happened the day of Asma’s arrest was unjust. ICE had no warrant and was frightening residents.

Farahnaz testifying before the Union County Board of County Commissioners, Elizabeth, New Jersey

The same thing happened again on September 23rd, when ICE detained a mother without a warrant. I arrived and saw Sergeant Miles directing ICE agents as they filled the house. Inside, a woman with an infant was crying, her toddler confused and terrified. Why was ICE allowed inside that home without a judicial warrant? And why was Sergeant Miles helping them? I have witnessed him collaborating with ICE at least three times. What measures will this City Council take to bring transparency and ensure this doesn’t keep happening?

I also want to share that Sergeant Miles once nearly hit me with his police car when I ignored him after he shouted at me on the street. He is known to go on power trips and has even been sued before for wrongful death. We cannot trust someone with that record to represent the safety and values of our city.

Cities like Portland and Chicago have shown courage: police there refuse to assist ICE, and in some cases have told ICE agents they will face arrest if they violate local law. If our officers cannot find the moral courage to protect people’s constitutional rights, then the very least they can do is not participate in taking those rights away. And they should certainly not show up to intimidate or silence the neighbors, activists, and community members who stand up and exercise their constitutional rights.