Outrage mounted and questions remained unanswered after federal agents detained multiple people on Chinatown’s Canal Street in an aggressive immigration raid Tuesday.
U.S. Homeland Security officials say they arrested more than a dozen people during the operation, including nine undocumented immigrants, four people who allegedly assaulted a federal officer and another who allegedly obstructed law enforcement by blocking a driveway.
Advocates push back
Immigrant advocates said they scrambled to respond as masked agents made arrests in the busy street ahead of rush hour.
“This chaos was created by these federal agents who seemingly wanted to start a fight,” said Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition. “This was choreographed in the sense of them doing this to get New Yorkers to see that they're doing something, but they're not doing anything for our safety and security.”
Awawdeh said lawyers have been trying to identify the individuals detained so far, without success. The crackdown occurred in an area where vendors regularly sell handbags and other merchandise on the street.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Comptroller Brad Lander and several city councilmembers spoke at a press conference near Foley Square, where they condemned the raid. Lander said, “street vendors are not a national security threat,” and called the federal response unjustified.
“We need to make sure that we are showing – in strength of numbers – that ICE is not welcome here in New York City,” said Crystal Hudson, a councilmember from Brooklyn. “We need to do it loudly. We need to do it proudly and we will all stand beside one another ensuring that [Donald] Trump gets our message: ICE is not welcome here.”
City says it was left out of the loop
City officials said they had no involvement in the enforcement. A spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams said the city does not cooperate with federal immigration officials on civil deportation matters, in accordance with local law.
“Mayor Adams has been clear that undocumented New Yorkers trying to pursue the American Dream should not be the target of law enforcement,” spokesperson Kayla Mamelak Altus said.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that the raid was “a targeted, intelligence-driven enforcement operation” that was “focused on criminal activity relating to selling counterfeit goods.”
Gothamist reporters saw at least four people taken into custody.
McLaughlin said nine undocumented immigrants were arrested in the raid and some of them were previously accused of crimes including robbery, burglary, domestic violence, assaulting law enforcement, counterfeiting and drug trafficking. She said four other people were arrested for "assault on a federal law enforcement officer" and a fifth for "obstructing law enforcement by blocking a driveway," but did not name any of those arrested.
Raid came after viral video targeting migrants
Tuesday’s action came two days after a far-right media figure, Savanah Hernandez, posted a video accusing immigrants of selling counterfeit goods at the same location. It also follows a recent ICE operation outside a city-run migrant shelter in Midtown, which McLaughlin tied to a broader effort to “restore law and order” in New York City.
Hernandez later seemed to take credit for the raid.
“This comes after my video went viral this weekend showing huge groups of African illegals selling fake goods along the entire sidewalk,” Hernandez, a contributor to Turning Point USA, wrote Tuesday evening on X.
Mayoral hopefuls weigh in
The raid drew responses from several 2025 mayoral candidates.
Democratic frontrunner Zohran Mamdani called the operation “aggressive and reckless,” and accused the Trump administration of using “authoritarian theatrics.”
Independent candidate Andrew Cuomo also denounced the raid in a post on X.
“Today’s ICE raid in Chinatown was an abuse of federal power by the Trump administration: more about fear than justice, more about politics than safety,” he said. “New York was built by immigrants and we will not be bullied into betraying who we are.”
In a statement via a spokesperson, Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa said the federal government should prioritize the deportation of “gang members, sex traffickers, and those involved in major crimes.”
“[Sliwa] has also been clear that the backs of restaurants and other service industries should not be the focus of immigration enforcement, and that resources should target dangerous offenders, not working people,” said Daniel Kurzyna, a spokesperson for the Sliwa campaign.
This story has been updated with additional information.
