ICE detained a Jewish bridal shop owner and his mother living in Englewood, N.J., a local elected official confirmed on Wednesday to Jewish Insider, warning of a growing trend impacting the Jewish community. 

Ari Ladino and his mother, who are originally from Bogotá, Colombia, run Luana Rose Modestly in Teaneck — a dress shop that opened in 2024 specializing in modest special occasion gowns and wedding dresses popular among local Orthodox Jewish women. 

The detainments were first reported by The Jewish Link, which said the local Jewish community grew deeply worried when Ladino and his mother, Chava Ladino — an artist and seamstress — stopped coming to the shop. The mother-son duo usually worked long hours there every day. 

There is no publicly available information regarding whether either Ladino holds a U.S. green card or the reason for their arrests. ICE did not reply to a request for comment from JI. 

Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes, who is an immigration lawyer but is not representing the Ladinos, described the arrests as part of a broader, nationwide immigration crackdown that is affecting Jewish immigrants and businesses. 

“This is unfortunately something happening all the time where people are getting visits and businesses are frozen,” Wildes told JI. “This is happening all over the nation. I’m also seeing the commercial effect this is having. Businesses are frozen, lawns aren’t being manicured. There’s got to be a more effective way of executing our laws.” 

Wildes said the crackdown is impacting Englewood, a heavily Jewish suburb of New York City. 

“We have a lot of people coming back from Israel who stepped out of line in some fashion and they’re being detained. We have one client who flew back yesterday after going to vote in Israel and he only has a green card. He’s [an Orthodox Jew] with five kids. They’re detaining people in the airports.” 

Wildes, a former federal prosecutor, argued that immigration laws should be enforced more sensitively, particularly because many of those detained are not convicted of any crimes.

Some of the Trump administration’s deportation crackdowns have targeted foreign nationals and students involved in anti-Israel campus protests, threatening permanent deportations of international students at institutions like Columbia and UC schools. 

But Wildes asserted that while President Donald Trump “has been a stalwart supporter of the state of Israel,” when it comes to immigration, the “strict approach” is having “a residual commercial effect throughout our nation.”   

“We have to be sensitive in the way we execute laws,” he continued. “These are not hardened criminals and they should be treated with greater respect.”