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Tag: ICE

Immigration agents conducting sweep on NYC’s famed Canal Street confronted by protesters

Posted on by neversleep

October 22, 2025

An immigration enforcement sweep targeting vendors on Manhattan’s famed Canal Street turned chaotic on Tuesday after droves of angry New Yorkers surrounded federal agents and attempted to block them from driving off, prompting arrests and fierce standoffs along a bustling downtown corridor.

The confrontation began shortly after 4 p.m., as federal agents fanned out across a section of Chinatown that has long served as a not-so-underground market for knock-off designer handbags, watches, perfumes, electronics and other goods.

A [news source] reporter observed dozens of agents detaining a street vendor selling bedazzled smartphone cases, one of a number of arrests in the area.

In response, a contingent of protesters, many of whom appeared to be on their way home from work, surrounded the masked officers, attempting to block their vehicle as they shouted “ICE out of New York” and called on other pedestrians to join them.

Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol and other federal offices then tried to clear the streets, in some cases shoving protesters to the ground and threatening them with pepper spray before detaining them.

As more New Yorkers joined the fray, some of the federal agents retreated on foot, followed by jeering protesters and honking vehicles. Additional federal agents, armed with long guns and tactical gear, also arrived in a military tactical vehicle.

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said the agents were conducting an enforcement operation against sellers of “counterfeit goods”

“During this law enforcement operation, rioters who were shouting obscenities, became violent and obstructed law enforcement duties including blocking vehicles and assaulting law enforcement,” she said.

Trump has threatened to send federal troops to the city if Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, wins election in two weeks.

An FBI spokesperson said Tuesday that special agents were involved with immigration enforcement efforts in New York in response to a request from DHS to help with “major operations.”

October 23, 2025

Federal authorities said 14 people, including immigrants and demonstrators, were arrested in Tuesday’s sweep. The Department of Homeland Security said it was a targeted operation focused on the alleged sale of counterfeit goods, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting Director Todd Lyons said it was “definitely intelligence-driven.”

“It’s not random. We’re just not pulling people off the street,” he told Fox News on Wednesday.

But some vendors saw it as an indiscriminate and heavy-handed crackdown by masked agents who queried a wide swath of sellers.

Awa Ngam was selling sweaters Wednesday from a table at a Canal Street intersection where at least one of her fellow vendors was taken away the previous afternoon.

She said she also was asked for ID, showed it, and then for her passport, which she doesn’t carry around. Agents quizzed her about how she had come to the U.S., but they eventually backed off after her husband explained that she’s an American citizen, she said.

Some other sellers decried the sweep as harassment. Others were keeping a low-profile and shied from speaking with journalists.

Signs freshly posted on streetlights mentioned Tuesday’s sweep and urged people at risk of detention to call an immigration law group’s helpline.

Law enforcement raids aimed at combating counterfeiting are relatively frequent on Canal Street, which is known for its stalls and shops where some vendors hawk knock-off designer goods and bootlegged wares. Federal authorities often team up with the New York Police Department and luxury brands on crackdowns aimed at shutting down illicit trade.

But the sight of dozens of masked ICE and other federal agents making arrests drew instant protests.

Nine people were arrested in the initial immigration sweep, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said. Four more people were arrested on charges of assaulting federal law enforcement officers, she said, adding that a fifth was arrested and accused of obstructing law enforcement by blocking a driveway.

The sweep came after at least two conservative influencers shared video on X of men selling bags on Canal Street’s sidewalks.

While clashes between immigration authorities and protesters have played out in Los Angeles and other cities, such scenes have been rarer on New York City streets, which Mayor Eric Adams has attributed in part to his working relationship with President Donald Trump’s administration.

Found on mainstream news.

Masked Federal Agents Storm Canal Street in Raid Targeting Immigrant Vendors

Posted on by neversleep

October 21, 2025

Dozens of federal agents, mostly masked, swarmed into downtown Manhattan near Chinatown on Tuesday afternoon, stepping out of unmarked vehicles and detaining several New Yorkers around the busy commercial area in a hectic raid that targeted people who fit the profile of a counterfeit goods vendor.

At one point early in the raid, a group of roughly 15 agents was quickly surrounded by residents and journalists as they took a Black man, who identified himself as Edwin, into custody against a wall. The agents maintained a perimeter around the arrest; nearby, bewildered tourists could be seen trying to figure out what was going on. Some locals filmed the arrest themselves, heckling the agents, telling them, among other things, to leave the city. Edwin yelled that he did not have his ID on him but was from Brooklyn and demanded agents release him as he also hurled expletives directed at President Donald Trump. After agents let him go, he confronted them, demanding that they “suck my dick,” prompting one agent to threaten to arrest him again, before Edwin eventually left.

Several people who had been detained were released after agents checked their IDs. Another Black man who did not identify himself later told Hell Gate that agents had detained him without warning and then released him after checking his ID. Some agents appeared to be holding bundles of papers with photos on them, presumably arrest targets.

A person with knowledge about the raid told Hell Gate that agents from ICE, the DEA, the IRS, and the FBI had all been brought into the operation, which they said was hastily planned. They confirmed that the raid was targeted toward the counterfeit goods sellers on Canal Street. Homeland Security Investigation’s Strategic Response Team—the agency’s version of SWAT—was also there with an armored vehicle, though Hell Gate did not witness anyone leaving the vehicle or it being used in any way. Most agents participating in the raid had street clothes and bulletproof vests with small firearms, though at least one carried what looked like an M4-style long gun.

(Felipe De La Hoz / Hell Gate)

One agent present appeared to be the ICE agent who was briefly relieved of duties last month after he was filmed aggressively pushing a woman down at the 26 Federal Plaza immigration court in a viral video, though Hell Gate could not confirm his identity. According to reporting in [news source], that agent, who remains publicly unnamed, was quickly reinstated after a brief preliminary review of the incident, in which he tackled the distraught wife of a man agents had just detained. At the downtown raid, he was one of the few agents without a face covering.

Small teams of six or seven agents soon splintered off to do their own rounds. They mostly seemed to move between Bayard and Hester Streets to the south and north and Broadway and Bowery to the east and west. One fruit seller on Canal told Hell Gate that a group of agents had gone by in the direction of Broadway and then quickly come back around, somewhat aimlessly. “I’m not sure what they wanted,” she said. Hell Gate followed one group for about 10 minutes as it moved around the area, jaywalking and fanning out across the sidewalk, but did not witness them approach or interact with any pedestrians or drivers. Pedestrians who walked by them often seemed surprised to see the group, and many reacted viscerally, shouting out to warn others that there were federal agents approaching. At one point, they went down into the Canal Street subway station, looked around, and went back up the stairs.

(Felipe De La Hoz / Hell Gate)

During this lap, the group passed an NYPD Strategic Response Group vehicle idling on Walker Street. An officer with that group told Hell Gate that they were there incidentally and did not have advance notice of the operation and were not assisting federal counterparts or monitoring the situation. When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the NYPD pointed to a statement that the agency posted to X, which said that “the NYPD had no involvement in the federal operation that took place on Canal Street this afternoon.”

Other than those officers, Hell Gate did not see any state or local law enforcement in the immediate vicinity for the start of the raid. Federal agents did not respond to verbal questions about their targets, intent, or personnel. A request sent out to ICE with similar questions did not receive an immediate response. 

While Tuesday’s operation netted relatively few arrests in comparison to the volume of agents present, this mass, highly visible federal raid comes on the heels of another sudden raid outside of a migrant shelter, part of an escalation in tactics after a period in which arrests were largely confined to the city’s immigration courts. Donald Trump has been vocal about wanting to deploy agents to New York City in the same manner as aggressive operations in cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. 

This federal show of force comes just a couple days after right-wing internet personality Savannah Hernandez posted on X about “African illegal immigrants…operating a black market” on Canal Street, and two weeks before a mayoral election in which frontrunner Zohran Mamdani has promised to more aggressively confront federal agents operating in the city. The NYPD has separately been cracking down on street vendors, including those selling counterfeit goods, as part of its renewed focus on “quality of life” enforcement.

Hell Gate did not see federal videographers of the sort seen filming footage for Homeland Security sizzle reels promoted on social media and elsewhere, though the person with knowledge of the raid said that at least one government photographer had been present. 

As the raid progressed, officers from different agencies stood or walked around and were yelled at by passersby. Small crowds formed near agents standing on street corners and curbs or inside their cars, as protesters called them “fucking fascists” and “scum.” Hell Gate overheard one agent exasperatedly telling another, “Well I guess we’ll just RTB then,” using an acronym for “returning to base.” Still, while some agents began to leave the area around 4 p.m., several groups of agents remained and conducted additional arrests. Many were subsequently swarmed by angry locals, who called the agents racists and demanded they leave the city. According to [news source], federal agents arrested some protesters, tackling some people to the ground and using their batons and riot shields to control the crowd.

(Felipe De La Hoz / Hell Gate)

Source: Hell Gate

New York officials among dozens arrested at anti-ICE demonstration

Posted on by neversleep

September 19, 2025

New York City and state officials were among dozens of people arrested at a demonstration opposing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Downtown Manhattan on Thursday.

It happened at 26 Federal Plaza, an ICE holding facility that has been a source of controversy over the past several months.

Protesters chanted during an outside sit-in in front of a driveway of the building, objecting to the treatment of detainees held there, before authorities moved in to make arrests. Another group also moved in on the 10th floor, demanding to see conditions there before they, too, were arrested.

According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 71 people, including two state senators and nine state Assembly members, were arrested. DHS also said the building was later placed on lockdown due to a bomb threat.

Found on mainstream news.

Five envelopes containing suspicious white powder discovered at NYC ICE field office, building evacuated

Posted on by neversleep

August 15, 2025

Five envelopes containing a suspicious white powder were discovered at New York’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Manhattan Thursday afternoon – prompting first responders to evacuate the federal building, according to authorities.

Fire officials responded to 26 Federal Plaza on Foley Square just before 4 p.m. after personnel found the menacing letters containing the mysterious substance in the 9th-floor mailroom of the Jacob K. Javits Federal Office Building, officials said. 

The historic address, also home to the US Department of Homeland Security, immigration court and other federal agencies, was swiftly evacuated as the fire department’s hazmat teams investigated. 

There were no reported injuries, officials said. 

“Right now, no threat remains to any employees or the public at this time,” Christopher Raia, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s New York office, told reporters during a news conference Thursday night. 

“Sending threatening letters of this nature, whether real or a hoax… diverts valuable, limited law enforcement resources.”

Test results are currently pending to identify the white powder. 

The envelopes will then be sent to the FBI’s Quantico lab in Virginia for further analysis as the agency launches its own probe.

The shocking incident, seemingly targeting ICE’s 9th-floor offices, comes two days after a federal judge ordered the agency to improve its immigration holding facility following complaints from jailed migrants over inhumane conditions.

The Lower Manhattan building has become a hub for arrests as the Trump administration continues its aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration.

ICE facilities and officers have been targeted by violence since the administration ramped up arrests and deportations.

Found on mainstream news.

Four Detainees Escape Newark ICE Facility

Posted on by neversleep

June 13, 2025

Four detainees at an ICE detention center in Newark, N.J., have escaped, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

U.S. Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey, a Democrat, told reporters on Friday that the men escaped by knocking down a wall composed of drywall and mesh material. The escape occurred amid unrest among the detainees who weren’t receiving enough food and subjected to other poor conditions in the detention center, he said.

Kim, who visited the detention center Friday and got a briefing from officials, told reporters the facility is undergoing a major security review to find out if other walls could be breached.

Immigration attorney Mustafa Cetin said a client of his held at the facility called him Thursday evening and said detainees were knocking things down and blocking security cameras. Cetin said his client reported seeing some detainees knock down a wall and escape.

“Less than a month and a half since this facility opened, we now have learned that there are chronic food shortages, undrinkable water, crumbling mesh walls, and inadequate staffing that led to the chaos that devolved yesterday,” executive director Amy Torres said.

The Delaney Hall detention center has been the site of a standoff between GEO Group and city officials and pro-immigrant groups that oppose the operation of the jail. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a Democrat who is running for governor, was arrested at the facility in May after he attempted to inspect the facility at the invitation of members of congress.

Found on mainstream news.

Another NYC protest against ICE raids ends with arrests

Posted on by neversleep

June 12, 2025

Another protest against federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids ended with arrests in Lower Manhattan on Wednesday.

Protesters returned to the federal immigration courts for a second night of demonstrations in solidarity with the protests in Los Angeles, where President Trump has deployed the National Guard and Marines despite objections from the city’s mayor and California’s governor.

Wednesday’s protest began as a peaceful gathering in the afternoon.

Protesters later marched to the federal immigration courts, where they again clashed with New York City Police officers and arrests ensued. Police said two people were charged and eight were issued summonses.

Nearly 3 dozen arrested during Tuesday’s protest

A protest Tuesday night in New York City turned violent and ended with dozens arrested. 

Thousands came out Tuesday night for what started as a peaceful protest that then devolved into a tense and at times violent scene. Some 86 people were taken into custody, and 34 of them were arrested on charges that include disorderly conduct.

“They decided to throw items, garbage cans, rocks, bricks, anything that basically wasn’t nailed down, they were picking it up and throwing it, and they were putting debris in the street so that the vehicles couldn’t pass.”

Video taken Tuesday shows what appears to be federal officers deploying some type of gas onto the crowd of protesters outside immigration court.

Found on mainstream news.

Federal agents briefly detain aide at New York Rep. Jerry Nadler’s office during nearby protests against migrant detentions

Posted on by neversleep

June 1, 2025

Federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security handcuffed and briefly detained a staff member in New York Rep. Jerry Nadler’s Manhattan district office on Wednesday, according to a statement released by the congressman.

Video taken by a person inside Nadler’s office shows one of his aides being handcuffed by an agent with the Federal Protective Service while another agent tries to access an area inside the office.

In the footage, a second staffer stands in front of the agent and asks if he has a warrant. “You’re harboring rioters in the office,” the federal agent is heard telling her, before walking in. In the background, the handcuffed aide is heard crying while someone tries to comfort her.

The agents allegedly entered Nadler’s office because they were told protesters were present and the agents “were concerned about the safety” of employees in the office, the Department of Homeland Security told [news source] in a statement on Saturday.

Activists on Wednesday were protesting outside of Varick Immigration Court — located on a different floor of the same building as Nadler’s office — in opposition to the detention of migrants at the courthouse by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

Upon the officers’ arrival, they identified themselves and said they were conducting a security check when “one individual became verbally confrontational and physically blocked access to the office,” the statement said.

“The officers then detained the individual in the hallway for the purpose of completing the security check. All were released without further incident,” DHS said.

Robert Gottheim, Nadler’s chief of staff, told [news source] on Sunday the Department of Homeland Security’s version of events was a “total fabrication.”

The incident occurred as the Trump administration has taken extraordinary measures to crack down on immigration, aggressively pressuring Immigration and Customs Enforcement to pick up the pace of migrant arrests and touting mass deportation plans.

Nadler called the incident “deeply troubling” in a Saturday statement and confirmed Department of Homeland Security officers “forcefully” entered his office and handcuffed the staff member.

“President Trump and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are sowing chaos in our communities, using intimidation tactics against both citizens and non-citizens in a reckless and dangerous manner,” he said.

“If this can happen in a Member of Congress’s office, it can happen to anyone – and it is happening,” Nadler said.

Gottheim said the agents appeared “upset” because members of Nadler’s staff witnessed the officers detaining migrants inside the building, and because staffers had invited advocates who saw the detentions to the congressman’s office.

Court watchers, advocates and some members of Nadler’s staff had gathered on the fifth floor, which houses the immigration court, to observe court activity following reports that immigration officers were detaining migrants after their immigration appointments.

Staff members noticed ICE officers were in the lobby holding sheets of paper with pictures of asylum seekers who were coming in for their hearings, Gottheim said.

“Really what happened is we have these ICE officers who are working with Federal Protective Services, upset that we are watching them, seeing what they’re doing, and that we invited these other people who were observing back to our office,” Gottheim told [news source].

Officers ignored staffers’ requests to see a warrant, he added.

“They push their way into the office, even though my staff doesn’t want them in,” Gottheim said. “They had no right to be in the office, and there’s no exigent circumstances of why they would have come: We didn’t call them for assistance, there was no riot, there was no protest going on in the office.”

Nadler was not in the office at the time of the incident but arrived shortly after his staff called him to alert him to what was unfolding.

The aide was still detained when he arrived, according to Gottheim, but Nadler spoke with the officers and helped defuse the situation so that the staffer could be released.

Found on mainstream news.

Protesters rally at Albany airport against Avelo Airlines’ ICE contract

Posted on by neversleep

May 31, 2025

Over 100 protesters gathered in the rain near Albany International Airport on the corner of Albany Shaker Road and Wolf Grove to demand that Avelo Airlines sever its ties with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The protest was part of a nationwide demonstration in nearly 30 cities against the airline’s involvement in deportation flights.

Earlier this week, Senator Pat Fahy introduced the Safe Air Act, which aims to ban deportation flights in New York State on commercial airlines contracted by ICE without a judicial warrant, legal counsel, and an immigration hearing. The act would also remove an existing sales tax exemption on jet fuel for airlines that participate in such flights.

Senator Fahy noted that Avelo operates at four New York airports and mentioned that, to her knowledge, Avelo deportation flights are currently taking off from Texas and Arizona.

Found on mainstream news.

Police and anti-ICE protesters clash outside immigration court in New York

Posted on by neversleep

May 29, 2025

The Department of Homeland Security said a demonstrator attempted to disrupt a federal immigration arrest in New York City on Wednesday.

Nearly two dozen anti-ICE protesters were also detained in another part of the city later that day. 

Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told [news source] that ICE agents contacted Federal Protective Service (FPS) on Wednesday morning and “requested assistance as their officers were conducting arrests” in the lobby of a federal immigration court building.

McLaughlin said FPS officers responded and saw several protesters filming and taking pictures of law enforcement personnel in the lobby. She said that at approximately 11:45 a.m. a person attempted to forcibly interfere with ICE agents attempting to place someone in custody.

McLaughlin said ICE reported the incident to FPS as “an assault on one of their officers.” The person was briefly taken into custody, issued a U.S. district court violation notice and released, according to McLaughlin.

Later that day, nearly two dozen anti-ICE protesters were detained by the New York Police Department outside a federal building in Manhattan on Wednesday night after a chaotic protest led to police struggling with demonstrators.

Protests erupted into chaos as officers and members of the crowd clashed over barricades. Protesters were taken into custody for charges that include obstruction of government administration.

“People say, ‘Oh, let them come in legally,’ and when they try to come in legally and follow court proceedings they’re being kidnapped,” a woman named Mariposa said.

The demonstrations happened hours after witnesses reported several people were taken into custody inside the ICE field office in SoHo.

“I’ve never seen anything like this. I’ve been working here for a couple years and I’ve never seen this many agents, let alone agents dressed in plain clothes, wearing masks, pulling people out of line. It’s totally out of the ordinary,” a man named Ben said.

Found on mainstream news.

ICE detention of New York City public school student sparks protests

Posted on by neversleep

May 30, 2025

There is growing outrage over the detention of a young Venezuelan immigrant who advocates say was duped into giving up his asylum status.

The 20-year-old New York City public school student named Dylan was taken into custody by ICE agents who were waiting after a hearing in federal immigration court.

The outrage reached the steps of the city’s education department in Lower Manhattan Thursday evening, where demonstrators rallied and demanded Dylan’s release.

“Dylan has been tricked, trapped and kidnapped,” said immigrant rights activist Power Malu. “He was doing everything the right way.”

Malu has been in touch with Dylan’s mother, who’s now in hiding.

In just eight days, ICE has shuttled Dylan around to four different states across the country, including as far away as Texas. He’s now locked up in western Pennsylvania.

Earlier Thursday, demonstrators held a vigil outside immigration court. It was the same federal building where Dylan was taken into custody last week.

Clergy and immigrants’ rights activists circled the building, marching in silent protest over the nation’s deportation agenda — policies they insist are racist and inhumane.

“Nothing can change unless the people stand up, we know that what we are doing is on the right side of justice, soon people will understand this and will stand up,” said Ravi Raragbir with New Sanctuary Coalition.

Unlike others arrested in the city earlier this year, Dylan had no criminal record and was in the U.S. legally. He, his mother and his siblings had been granted temporary protected status (TPS) under the Biden Administration’s asylum program.

Found on mainstream news.