Local and state officials in New York are expressing outrage after dozens of federal agents carried out a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) raid in Manhattan’s Chinatown on Tuesday.
The Department of Homeland Security described the operation as a “targeted, intelligence-driven enforcement operation on Canal Street in New York City, focused on criminal activity relating to selling counterfeit goods”.
Trump, she said, “claims he’s targeting the ‘worst of the worst’” but “today his agents used batons and pepper spray on street vendors and bystanders on Canal Street”.
The city comptroller, Brad Lander, said that “street vendors are not a national security threat” and thanked the “New Yorkers who mobilized quickly”.
The three candidates for New York City mayor also reacted to the raid.
Following the execution of a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) raid in Manhattan’s Chinatown on Tuesday by dozens of federal agents, local and state officials in New York are voicing their outrage.
Crowds of New Yorkers gathered to protest the action as masked and armed federal agents were seen detaining multiple people near Canal Street in Lower Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon. The chaotic scenes were captured on camera and in eyewitness accounts. Additionally, military-style cars were observed traversing the region.
On Canal Street in New York City, the Department of Homeland Security characterized the operation as a “targeted, intelligence-driven enforcement operation, focused on criminal activity relating to selling counterfeit goods”.
State and local officials quickly denounced the raid.
Rapidly distancing itself from the operation, the New York Police Department (NYPD) declared that it had “no involvement in the federal operation that took place on Canal Street this afternoon.”.
The mayor, Eric Adams, reposted the NYPD’s statement and added: “In compliance with our local laws, New York City does not collaborate with federal law enforcement on civil deportations. “.”.
Kathy Hochul, the governor of New York, criticized Donald Trump and denounced the operation.
According to her, Trump “says he’s targeting the ‘worst of the worst,'” but “his agents used pepper spray and batons on street vendors and bystanders on Canal Street today.”.
She asserted that attacking New Yorkers does not make the city safer.
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York referred to the raid as “indiscriminate, wrong, and destructive” and stated that, rather than conducting careless raids against street vendors, federal immigration agencies “should target criminals for arrest and deportation.”.
He went on to say, “This does not make us safer; it just breeds fear and chaos.”.
The city’s public advocate, Jumaane Williams, claimed that federal agents “ripped vendors from their families and denied them due process – all because they tried to earn a living.”. In addition to thanking the “New Yorkers who mobilized quickly,” city comptroller Brad Lander declared that “street vendors are not a national security threat.”.
“Our communities deserve safety, dignity, and due process – not fear and violence that tear families apart,” said Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, who called Tuesday’s raid a “horrifying display of federal overreach and authoritarian tactics.”.
He also informed reporters that some people had been arrested for obstructing Ice’s efforts and protesting.
A DHS representative told CBS News that at least one protester was taken into custody for allegedly assaulting a federal officer and that others in the crowd “were shouting obscenities, became violent, and obstructed law enforcement duties.”.
The raid prompted responses from the three contenders for mayor of New York City.
“Once again, the Trump administration chooses authoritarian theatrics that create fear, not safety,” said Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate, who denounced the operation as a “aggressive and reckless raid on immigrant street vendors.”. It needs to end. “.”.
Former New York governor and independent candidate Andrew Cuomo described the raid as a “failure of federal power by the Trump administration: more about politics than safety, more about fear than justice.”.
Cuomo stated, “This is not who we are, and when I am mayor, it will never be NYC.”. The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of our ideals and the promise of America, not merely a decorative piece that stands in our harbor. “”.
Additionally, Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate’s spokesperson, told the Gothamist that the deportation of “gang members, sex traffickers, and those involved in major crimes” should be the federal government’s top priority.
According to the spokesperson, “[Sliwa] has also been clear that resources should target dangerous offenders, not working people, and that the backs of restaurants and other service industries should not be the focus of immigration enforcement.”.
