More than 70 people protested outside of an ICE Detention Center and nearby Amazon Fulfillment Facility in Elizabeth on Sunday amid planned raids targeting at least 2,000 immigrants nationwide.

Sweat dripping down their brows in 90 degree temperatures, protesters held signs such as “Family’s belong together” and “No Tech 4 ICE." They called for Amazon to end its partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and close any federal contracts supporting the Trump administration’s “anti-immigrant agenda," they said.

One protester, who asked to be identified only his first name, Mario, said he knows what it’s like to be detained by ICE. He fled violence in El Salvador in 2014 to seek asylum in the United States and was detained, he said speaking Spanish through a translator.

“It’s a big deal to make this journey," Mario said. “I came here fleeing for my life. I came here to preserve my life, and being detained and facing deportation and the threat of having to go back where I have to risk my life again is very scary.”

The protest, organized by the non-profit immigrant rights group “Make The Road New Jersey,” was one of several in the New York area this weekend. They were planned to coincide with raids announced by President Donald Trump reportedly targeting unauthorized immigrants in nine American cities, including New York, Baltimore and Los Angeles.

Public pressure on Amazon follows a letter employees wrote to the company asking to stop marketing facial-recognition technology to government agencies and stop supporting a data analytics company that contracts with ICE, according to news reports.

“No Tech 4 ICE”



A crowd has gathered outside the ICE Detention Center in Elizabeth, NJ protesting Amazon’s business involvement with ICE and recent raids. @njdotcom pic.twitter.com/Q54XTsOaCm — Tennyson Donnie Coleman (@TennysonTV) July 14, 2019

Decked in blue Make the Road New Jersey T-shirts, protesters said they are determined to keep fighting for immigrant families.

Looking to shame the retail titan, they displayed Amazon Prime boxes with frowns drawn onto the company’s logo and also called for the company to treat its immigrant workers better.

The protests come just as Amazon’s “Prime Days” promotion begin Monday and follow a recent protest outside the detention center that led to 36 people getting arrested.

“Welcoming Amazon into our state is a problem, especially when they’re providing key technology to ICE,” Sara Cullinane, Director of Make the Road New Jersey, said.

“As we’ve said many times and continue to believe strongly, companies and government organizations need to use existing and new technology responsibly and lawfully. There is clearly a need for more clarity from governments on what is acceptable use of AI and ramifications for its misuse, and we’ve provided a proposed legislative framework for this. We remain eager for the government to provide this additional clarity and legislation, and will continue to offer our ideas and specific suggestions," an AWS spokesperson told NJ Advance Media.

The detention center in Elizabeth did not respond to a request for comment.

Members of Make the Road New Jersey - including immigrant families who have been detained by ICE - call for Amazon to end its partnership with ICE, near the Amazon Fulfillment Facility and ICE detention center in Elizabeth. Ed Murray | NJ Advance Media for

There are 475,000 unauthorized immigrants living in New Jersey, according to Pew Research Center, and Gov. Phil Murphy has assured immigrant families that his administration will “stand with them” as ICE raids ramp up across the country.

But Trump’s announcement of the weekend raids stoked fears in the immigrant community that the arrests could go well beyond those with deportation orders. ICE agents in raids frequently encounter others living in the country illegally when they go after targeted individuals facing deportation, and will arrest them as well.

Those fears were painted on the protesters’ faces, along with the uncertainty of what’s next.

Mario has already made it through some of the steps in the asylum process, but faces the risk of deportation until that process is complete, according organizers. His children, who came to the country after he did also face a similar fate, organizers said.

“You want to live here," Mario said. "You want to be able to make your life here with your family but you’re always fearing that you could be expelled from the country back to a place where your life might be at risk.”

Tennyson Donnie Coleman may be reached at tcoleman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @TennysonTV. Find him on Facebook.