On Tuesday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents targeted Canal Street in Chinatown, aiming to crack down on illegal street vendors. This move drew criticism from some bystanders.
Video footage captured the scene as agents detained individuals in the area, notorious for selling counterfeit items. Some locals tried to intervene, protesting against the federal actions. While officials requested to see vendors’ legal documentation, several vendors attempted to flee. Reports described the situation as chaotic, with vendors hurriedly packing up and running as agents from various agencies, including Homeland Security, ICE, DEA, and FBI, pursued them.
The chaos was evident in the footage.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security stated that ICE, along with its federal partners — including the FBI, DEA, ATF, IRS-CI, and CBP — executed a “targeted intelligence-driven enforcement operation” focused on criminal activities involving counterfeit sales on Canal Street.
Interestingly, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) made it clear that they were not involved in the operation, a sentiment echoed by Democratic Mayor Eric Adams.
“As we gather more information about this situation, it’s important for New Yorkers to know that we’re not involved,” Adams remarked. “Our administration has emphasized that undocumented New Yorkers striving for the American Dream should not be targets of law enforcement; we should focus our resources on violent criminals instead.”
Former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running for mayor, also weighed in on the incident.
“This is not who we are, and it will never be New York City under my leadership. The Statue of Liberty symbolizes our values and the promise of America,” he said, denouncing the ICE actions in Chinatown as “an abuse of federal power by the Trump administration, prioritizing politics over safety.”
“New York was built by immigrants, and we will not let ourselves be intimidated into betraying that,” Cuomo added.
Socialist mayoral candidate Zoran Mamdani, a leading contender in the Democratic primary, expressed his disapproval as well.
“Today, federal agents from ICE and HSI, some in military gear and masks, aggressively targeted immigrant street vendors in Chinatown,” he claimed, criticizing the Trump administration for choosing an authoritarian strategy that promotes fear rather than safety.
