When reports of a potential ICE activity started circulating on June 19, the Herald reported that members of Wildwood’s Spanish-speaking community chose to stay away from work or keep their children at home out of fear. Federal and local officials such as Steve Mikulski, who is Wildwood's commissioner of public safety, and Middle Township police would not or could not confirm on June 19 whether ICE had arrested any individuals. They did not respond to immediate requests for comment about the three arrests outlined by Cape May Immigrant Support. According to publicly available immigration data analyzed by the Herald, ICE has arrested at least 10 other people in Cape May County since January 2025. Arrest data published by the Deportation Data Project, an organization that obtains data from the federal government related to ICE arrests and detentions through public records litigation, revealed that almost all those arrested were from Mexico. One was from the Dominican Republic.Unlike other areas of New Jersey, Cape May County has a small population of immigrants. In 2024, only 4.5 percent of the county's population was born outside of the United States - a number much lower than the statewide average of 24 percent. According to 2020 U.S. census data, approximately 8 percent of Cape May County’s population is Hispanic. ICE agents have been more frequently sighted in parts of the state with higher non-citizen populations, such as Hudson and Essex counties, where foreign-born residents make up more than 40 and 30 percent, respectively, of their populations. “I don’t know if ICE is active in Cape May County,” Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2) told the Herald on June 19, the day of the Rio Grande operation. He added that even if ICE was active, the agency did not have to inform him.ICE is an arm of the federal government’s Department of Homeland Security. Since it is a federal agency, it does not have to coordinate with local officials or law enforcement to carry out enforcement operations. Across the United States, communities often only become aware of ICE's presence when news organizations or residents witness and document enforcement activity. The June 19 operation was one such case, with eyewitnesses describing ICE activity and photographing agents.The opacity surrounding ICE operations has become a point of contention nationwide, with federal, state and local officials criticizing the agency’s lack of transparency. Van Drew and other local officials, such as Cape May County Sheriff Robert Nolan, have expressed support for immigration enforcement within New Jersey. After a June 15 incident where ICE agents opened fire on a driver who struck an officer with his car in Stafford Township in Ocean County, the congressman released a statement condemning the violence against the officer.“ICE agents put their lives on the line every day to enforce our nation's laws and protect our communities,” he said in the statement. “Yet too many politicians and activists continue to demonize them for doing the job they are sworn to do.”Van Drew said that the agent struck by the vehicle was expected to recover. “I will always stand with ICE and law enforcement,” he said.