Editor’s note: The ICE storm is coming

Masked and armed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers marched into Chinatown with an armored vehicle last week and all hell broke loose. They were conducting a sweep of unlicensed West African street vendors selling fake purses along Canal Street. Agents began with a slow procession, blaring sirens and flashing lights, down the middle of Lafayette Street. A woman yelled “Fuck you!” when the agents slammed an immigrant woman to the ground in Foley Square. A crowd with people taking videos formed around the agents, who then pushed their way through to make nine immigrant arrests. Four protesters also were arrested. The raid came after social media influencer Savanah Hernandez outed the vendors in a post on X.

Multiple elected officials rushed to the scene, including New York City Council Member Christopher Marte, who said the number of agents swelled from seven to 80 in 30 minutes. Later that night near 26 Federal Plaza, where immigrants go for asylum and deportation hearings and where many have been ensnared by ICE agents in recent months, elected officials joined a demonstration of protesters chanting “ICE out of New York.” City Council Members Sandy Nurse, Alexa Avilés, Tiffany Cabán, Crystal Hudson, Julie Won and Marte were on hand, joined also by City Comptroller Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. Meanwhile, ICE acting Director Todd Lyons promised on Fox News more raids were coming. New York was tested once, and hopefully the feds see that these raids are only creating chaos – not safety.