A day after federal immigration agents carried out a high-profile raid on street vendors in Manhattan, New York State Attorney General on Wednesday called on the public to share photos, videos, and other evidence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity with her office for review.
Attorney General Letitia James said her office would review footage and other information from operations shared through a “Federal Action Reporting Form,” saying in a statement that “every New Yorker has the right to live without fear or intimidation.”
President Donald Trump, a Republican, has launched an aggressive immigration crackdown in major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C. The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Wednesday that the Trump administration would send more than 100 federal agents to the city to ramp up enforcement, citing an unnamed source.
Protesters in the cities have used phones to record ICE operations, which critics say have employed racial profiling and swept up many immigrants with no criminal records.
The immigration raid on New York City’s Canal Street, a prominent shopping area known for bargain prices and imitation goods, triggered pushback in the street from residents in the vicinity.
When asked for comment on James’ oversight effort, U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said it “looks like obstruction of justice.”
Democrats’ Efforts To Record ICE Abuses
The new effort to record possible abuses by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and other federal agents is part of a broader resistance by Democrats.
U.S. Representative Robert Garcia, a Democrat based in Los Angeles, said on Monday that he and other Democrats would launch an online site to track the agency’s operations and urged the public to record ICE activity.
The Trump administration in March gutted the DHS offices charged with monitoring civil rights abuses as part of its government downsizing efforts.
The ICE monitoring effort by James, a longtime Trump foe, could further inflame political tensions with the White House. James, who brought a civil fraud case against Trump in 2022, was charged earlier this month with lying on a mortgage application, as the Trump administration stepped up its use of government power against his perceived political enemies.
DHS said Tuesday’s operation targeting Canal Street resulted in nine arrests of alleged immigration offenders from Mali, Senegal, Mauritania and Guinea, including some with prior criminal arrests. Four people were arrested for allegedly assaulting law enforcement and another for obstruction of justice, DHS said.
Democratic U.S. Representative Dan Goldman, whose district includes Canal Street, said his office had helped secure the release of four U.S. citizens detained by ICE.
“Dozens of masked federal agents stormed Lower Manhattan, roughing up protestors and indiscriminately arresting people,” Goldman said in statement.
The Canal Street raid came after at least two prominent pro-Trump influencers posted videos in recent weeks focusing on African immigrants selling goods along the busy thoroughfare. One of the influencers, Savanah Hernandez, said in an October 19 post on X that African immigrants without legal status were operating a black market there and urged ICE to visit the area and arrest the vendors.
“I don’t know that ICE officials saw my post,” Hernandez said in an email. “However, the White House has been very responsive to on the ground reporters who have utilized X to share their stories.”
The normally bustling street was largely empty of street vendors on Wednesday, according to a witness.
(With inputs from Reuters)
