The Edison Township Council voted to ask the township's law department to draft a resolution supporting the state-level Immigrant Trust Act after a packed public-comment period about recent ICE raids at local warehouses.

The measure, introduced and seconded on the floor, passed in a roll-call vote with Council members Brasher, Coyle, Patel and Patil voting yes and Council President Pointer abstaining.

The vote followed more than two hours of public testimony from residents, faith leaders and immigrant-rights organizations who described raids at Edison warehouses this month that detained dozens of workers and left families scrambling for information and legal help. Commenters and advocacy groups urged the council to take a public stand and to press the mayor's office for better notification and support for affected families.

"I condemn the raids," Councilman Patel said during the public-comment exchange. Several speakers described traumatic scenes at the facilities. "Silence in the face of injustice is not neutrality. It is complicity," said a social worker who identified herself as Stephanie.

Advocates pushed the council to act beyond words. Reverend Seth Copperdale of Highland Park recommended creating an "ad hoc group on detention and deportation" to coordinate legal and social support for families and to track future incidents. Several nonprofit and legal-service organizations present said they were already assisting families reached by the raids and appealed for municipal help with outreach and emergency funding for legal representation.

Speakers and journalists in the room gave differing counts of how many workers were detained; public commenters most frequently said "50-plus," while at least one on-the-ground account cited 29 arrests. The council's resolution request does not itself change federal enforcement powers; it directs legal staff to prepare a formal resolution voicing the council's support for the state Immigrant Trust Act and to transmit that statement to state legislators.

Council members and members of the public said they wanted clearer municipal protocols for sharing notice with workers and advocacy groups when federal enforcement actions are planned. Several callers said they were told by family members or saw activities in the field before elected officials disclosed anything.

The council asked the law department to draft language supporting the Immigrant Trust Act and related state bills cited by speakers; the clerk recorded the motion and the subsequent roll-call vote. Council President Pointer said he would abstain because he had not read the draft bill language before the vote.

The council vote is a municipal expression of support and, as passed, directs the administration and legal staff to prepare and circulate the resolution to state lawmakers and to post the town's statement publicly. Advocates said they will continue pressing for additional council actions, including stronger town-level policies to limit local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and to expand legal and social services for detained workers and their families.

For now, residents and nonprofits said they will focus on immediate assistance: helping detained workers locate counsel and family support, and documenting cases for follow-up with state legislators and the council.

What happens next: the law department will prepare the resolution language for a future council meeting; community groups said they would return to monitor drafting and to press for concrete local supports such as a municipal hotline for affected families and a standing rapid-response team.