A Canadian woman living in New Jersey was taken into ICE custody this week, days after police charged her with allegedly slapping a teenage girl who was wearing sweatpants bearing the words “Trump” and “ICE.”
Point Pleasant Beach police say Kaitlyn E. Tracey, 33, approached a group of four teens on the boardwalk the night of July 3 and began recording them on her phone. Officers said she yelled at two of the girls over their “patriotic colored sweatpants with political wording” before striking the victim once on the body and once in the face with an open hand. The girl was not injured, and her age was redacted in court filings.
Surveillance footage helped investigators identify Tracey after she left the scene without being identified. Police obtained an arrest warrant, and she was taken into custody without incident at Point Pleasant Beach police headquarters on Monday and lodged in the Ocean County Jail. She faces charges of endangering the welfare of a child, simple assault, harassment and obstruction.
Ms. Tracey, a Canadian citizen, entered the country with a passport in 2024. Police listed her home as Allenhurst, though her husband has said the couple lives in Asbury Park.
After her arrest, Ms. Tracey was transferred from the Ocean County Jail to ICE custody at Delaney Hall, the ICE detention facility in Newark. Her husband, Matthew Geroni, posted an emotional appeal on social media asking for help finding an immigration attorney, saying his wife had been “detained by ICE and brought to Delaney Hall in North New Jersey.”
Court records show Ms. Tracey is represented by attorney Francis Hodgson and is scheduled for an early disposition conference on Aug. 4 before Judge Guy P. Ryan.
Mr. Geroni created a GoFundMe page to help cover his wife’s legal expenses, but he later said he took it down after a group of Facebook users opposed to Ms. Tracey mass-reported the page.
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