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ICE agents raid street vendors on Canal and Lafayette
Gothamist and amNY reported that federal ICE agents raided counterfeit vendors selling goods on the edge of Chinatown yesterday afternoon, at around Canal/Walker and Lafayette, detaining several and also raising the ire of passersby and protestors, who quickly gathered at the scene. They, too, were arrested.
“ICE and its federal partners, including FBI, DEA, ATF, IRS-CI and CBP,* conducted a targeted, intelligence-driven enforcement operation on Canal Street in New York City, focused on criminal activity relating to selling counterfeit good,” the assistant secretary of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, said in a email. “During this law enforcement operation, rioters who were shouting obscenities, became violent and obstructed law enforcement duties including blocking vehicles and assaulting law enforcement. Already one rioter has been arrested for assault on a federal officer.”
The department did not have details on how many vendors were arrested or the charges, but the secretary added, “We have more details of the criminals arrested as soon they become available.”
The operation began at about 3p at around Centre and Canal, and ICE agents reportedly starting questioning vendors. amNY reported that some starting warning others that federal agents had arrived. Traffic was blocked on Canal and dozens of vehicles and agents — and then protestors — swarmed the area.
A young Tribecan was coming home from high school when the melee broke out and reported that the officers were masked, riding in unmarked cars, and carrying what she called “serious guns.” That’s a screenshot from her video above.
“ICE has no place in New York City, especially not in the heart of Chinatown, terrorizing our immigrant neighbors with military vehicles and masked agents,” Councilman Chris Marte said in a statement. “This kind of escalation is unnecessary, unacceptable, and antithetical to our city’s values as a sanctuary for all people.
“The challenges around vending on Canal Street are real and must be addressed, but federal agents storming our streets and targeting community members is not the solution.”
amNY noted that the sting took place two days after a conservative commentator covered the counterfeit market on Broadway and Canal on X. “A huge group of African illegal immigrants are operating a black market on the corner of Broadway and Canal St in New York City,” Savannah Hernandez wrote in her post. “The entire sidewalk is filled with illegals who state they are from Senegal and I watched as they fled police. This corner looks exactly like the streets of Paris and the migrants even became angry and tried to tell me I couldn’t film…Perhaps @ICEgov should go check this corner out.”
The Soho Broadway Initiative is hosting a roundtable on illegal street vendors on Thursday, October 23, 4p, on Zoom. See more on that event here.
* Some definitions:
ATF — Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
IRS-CI — Criminal Investigation | Internal Revenue Service
CBP — U.S. Customs and Border Protection
And of course the story does not end there. Where are those people being sent?
IF they are indeed illegal or have criminal records, there is a more humane way to handle it. For one thing, ICE agents with no IDs and wearing masks of shame are not the way to go about this.
As always, a voice of reason here, Heide!
International organized crime that uses the proceeds of the sale of counterfeit goods to fund human trafficking, drug smuggling, weapons trafficking, and terrorism deserves the strongest possible response.
What is the more humane way to remove the bazaars entirely obstructing the sidewalks? Ignoring it out of political correctness? Asking politely?
Unused lots as outdoor markets, much as what was done for NYC’s major “flea markets” in the past. Can’t condone selling counterfeit goods, but we have the lots and we have the problem. 2+2.
The vendors were selling counterfeits on the public sidewalk because the law compelled private landlords to evict store tenants who sold counterfeits inside stores. Why should the public provide space for the illegal sales of counterfeit goods by illegal aliens?
Because it’s practical, and lessens the burden on the general public.
What’s the more humane way?
Arresting people for breaking the law repeatedly, and being part of an organized crime network, seems quite justified.
The more humane way would be to transparently arrest people, not show up armed and demanding ID from anyone who isn’t white.
Thank you Ken. Exactly.
Oh. They asked them for ID. And hurt their feelings, no doubt.
https://apnews.com/article/immigration-canal-street-protest-arrests-85f88f0820533f584c895fca650d4f42
Really nothing compared to how the illegal immigrants vendors behaved, taking over streets, harassing people. One vendor filmed on YouTube harassing a man (at the corner of Canal and Church St) was among those arrested.
Hi
Im a business owner in and around that area.
I have seen nypd do raids after raids with some police officers getting hurt handling these illegal migrants selling counterfeit goods and crowding our streets.
Guess what? They come back day after day. Its demoralizing and i feel sad for nypd to keep doing the same thing and having the same result
Our local law and the due process you hold so highly has not and continue to fail to produced safe and clean streets for us there.
These are illegal migrants conducting illegal criminal activity on our streets with impunity. Local officials should cooperate with federal agencies but our local laws forbid it.
Agreed that it seems like over-kill with all the armaments and a tank. What would constitute transparency?
However, arrests of the counterfeit vendors seem justified, since merely fining them over years has had no effect. The rare occasions when NYC police arrests a couple of them, that also seems to have no effect.
its about time someone did something about this. NYPD looks the other way, if the 1st and 5th were allowed to do their job this action would be unnecessary. Chris Marte calls the illegal, unlicensed counterfeiters who also deal drugs community members. Really? no more round tables to discuss, the problem is obvious and so is the solution. Crackdown on this, I don’t care who does it. This has metastasized way beyond just Canal street, just walk down Broadway south of Canal, its right in front of storefronts including galleries that are trying to make a real living and actually pay taxes. anyone else tired of the gaslighting on this?
well said. could not agree more. these people aren’t community members, they are detrimental to the community. it’s about time something was done about this, as has been written about in other posts on this forum. Thank goodness for ICE, thankful that someone will clean up this mess. If you are a TRIBECA CITIZEN, this is good news. No one wants these “vendors” around, the businesses especially. Bravo, ICE.
The production and sale of counterfeit goods is a global, multi-billion dollar problem and one that has serious economic and health ramifications for Governments, businesses and consumers. Counterfeiting is everywhere – it can affect what we eat, what we watch, what medicines we take and what we wear – and all too often the link between fake goods and transnational organized crime is overlooked in the search for knock-offs at bargain-basement prices. …Criminal organizations are often involved beyond just producing and moving counterfeit goods, with many also trafficking drugs, firearms and people. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Larry, I agree, arresting the local distributors of counterfeit goods is only a short-term fix. To really make a dent, law enforcement should be identifying and going after the suppliers — the companies that procure the goods in the first place and to which most of the money likely flows.
Does not seem to be an either/or problem; enforcement should go after both the local sellers, and the import and distribution networks. Ideally, it should go after the source, the manufacturers, but presumably they are overseas and out of reach of our law enforcement. Although the USA could put pressure on the countries hosting these manufacturers to shut them down.
Agreeing with Marcus. Another band aid and a perverse show of masked violence
No offense meant, but can you cite where Marte called these individuals “community members”?
Incidentally, I see the quote above, but Marte is undoubtedly saying this in light of the fact that according to the NYT, the targeted were not all street vendors, nor immigrants. When I refer to “individuals” I’m referring to those whose presence here only to commit the crime of selling counterfeit goods. Several men were handcuffed, only to be released later. Next time you’re taken down by a masked brute and handcuffed without cause, your perspective may change.
I mean… finally? why are these activities allowed in the first place… they immigration status is not the point.. if at least ICE does something to deal with it, bravo
Finally. It’s ridiculous that this has gone on as long as it has. It’s impossible to walk on the sidewalks when they’re all set up and god knows what else they could be funding by selling counterfeit or stolen goods in the first place. These are not “fellow members of our community”.
Good stuff – thank you ICE and thank you POTUS.
Instead of curbing this ongoing illegal activity, the city wants to spend tens of millions of dollars to expand the sidewalks at this intersection. Ridiculous.
Unlicensed vendors have overrun the streets and destroyed the marketplace for licensed vendors who are playing by the rules. A honest vendor simply cannot compete with these sidewalk racketeers, many of whom should not even be in the country. Licensed NYC vendors are grateful to ICE and the FED’s.
Long overdue. Finally! There is no right for any individuals to overtake the neighborhood with illegal activities, aggressive behavior and the disorder and filth they create. Maybe soon I can actually walk these blocks with my kids and not have to avoid them. Vote responsibly NY!
This was inevitable. The city has for many years failed to enforce the rule of law. The local powers that be have completely failed to deal effectively with this ever-growing problem. Police do nothing. Politicians do nothing. So eventually it reaches the critical point where something drastic happens.
I knew this would be the response of many people. You are willing to sacrifice due process and have people arrested and disappeared to foreign countries by nameless masked men to have a block of your real estate investment “cleaned up.”
When this regime is done, getting rid of all the people who are other than you, they will come for you or those you love – that’s how authoritarians roll.
It’s not our real estate investment – it’s our quality of life. If you haven’t had the pleasure of dealing with the filth, the urination, the defecation and the aggression from these guys first-hand, then you don’t understand the frustration driving the comments from residents. If NYPD and Chris Marte were addressing the problem, the federal authorities would not need to step in. Local officials should be embarrassed.
Thank you SoHo! Truth , I am tired of it~
With all due respect SoHo, I grew up in the South Bronx of the 1960s and 70s. Then moved to Manhattan and have lived in Hell’s Kitchen and Tribeca ever since.
You are living in the safest, cleanest version of NYC there has EVER been. I’m sorry if this two-block stretch is impacting your “quality of life.” But in a city of almost 8.5 million people, you may have a few less-than-perfect blocks.
These issues should be addressed humanely and in accordance with the rule of law. Masked men throwing out due process IS NOT THE FIX.
And if this tiny section of Canal/Lispenard bothers you so much, you can always move to Westchester – city life doesn’t agree with everyone.
Remember this when these masked men come for all of us.
There’s a literal poem about this that we were all taught in grade school.
What is the more humane way to remove the bazaars entirely obstructing the sidewalks?
We have something called due process you know?
Also showing up in masks and guns demanding ID from anyone is who isn’t white (people who were just passing by included) is acceptable to you?
I think it is perfectly normal for residents to demand that international crime organizations not be allowed to operate brazenly and openly in the streets.
The production and sale of counterfeit goods is a global, multi-billion dollar problem and one that has serious economic and health ramifications for Governments, businesses and consumers. Counterfeiting is everywhere – it can affect what we eat, what we watch, what medicines we take and what we wear – and all too often the link between fake goods and transnational organized crime is overlooked in the search for knock-offs at bargain-basement prices. …Criminal organizations are often involved beyond just producing and moving counterfeit goods, with many also trafficking drugs, firearms and people. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
NYC seemed a lot safer and cleaner under Mayor Bloomberg.
Anyway, no matter whether it is the safest/cleanest it has ever been, there is surely lots of room for improvement.
At last some humanity
Bravo.
How are they throwing out due process? Due process is the process that’s due. When you see an immigration judge and he issues a final order of removal, the next step in the process is you leave the country. That’s one of the guys arrested (had his hearing in 2008 – still here!)
For the others, they’re about to get all the due process they’re entitled to, and then a flight home.
The selling of counterfeit junk is a serious crime. At the point of sale, it may seem minor, just violating a company’s intellectual property rights (although if it was your design being ripped off, or your company’s product being copied, you might not consider this “minor”; it isn’t just luxury products being counterfeited, it’s all kinds of products from the bottom to the top, including all sorts of consumer tech, cigarettes, medicines, etc.).
These counterfeiters hurt legitimate businesses in the area (and on-line, since so much counterfeit junk is sold on-line, even unknowingly by retailers like Amazon). Presumably they don’t pay any taxes either, which is unfair to the legit businesses that do.
The sellers damage the community, by creating an ever-growing lawless zone: blocked sidewalks, aggressive selling to passersby, public urination (and worse), shouting, running and hiding from the police then returning immediately, littering, blocking subway and building entrances, etc. The buyers are complicit and also to blame. They know they are involved in something illegal, and do it anyway.
Most seriously, these sales massively fund organized crime networks, keeping those networks alive, and leading to and enabling far more serious crimes, from human trafficking, drug trafficking, terrorism, etc.
So the sellers are part of those organized crime networks. This is no joke.
People defend this junk bazaar as if it is some essential part of NYC “character” or tradition or whatever, some great tourist attraction that is important to preserve. I wonder if any of those defenders actually live in the midst of this and have to deal with it everyday. Same for the protestors – What % of those actually live or work (legitimately) right in the affected blocks?
It must end.
Some sources:
“Gangs and Organized Crime” – https://www.ncpc.org/resources/ip-theft/gangs-and-organized-crime/
“The Dark Side of Fake Goods”
https://www.europol.europa.eu/media-press/newsroom/news/dark-side-of-fake-goods
“Counterfeiting: An ABC of Terrorist Financing”
https://www.visionofhumanity.org/counterfeiting-an-abc-of-terrorist-financing/
This is what ICE and the FBI should be used for. Arresting people who clean homes and harvest our crops should not be the priority, but this trade is organized crime. It is damaging to taxpayers, local brands (Coach, Kate Spade to name two), and to people who are just trying to walk down the sidewalk in safety. It’s absurd that this was allowed to go on so long, and like the scaffolds that benight every sidewalk, it speaks to the failure of local politicians to do the obvious.
Finally. Hopefully they continue doing this every day, day after day until these criminals stop making the sidewalks their own to do whatever they please.
Exactly. And citywide.
While we may sympathize with the individuals selling the counterfeit goods, we need to understand that everything they are doing is illegal. The goods are counterfeit and often provided by organized crime. This is an all cash business and with NYC facing a $34.3 Billion Cumulative Budget Gap Through State Fiscal Year 2029 (figure provided by the NYS Controller’s Office) perhaps we do need the tax revenues provided by legitimate businesses (which are unable to compete with the street vendors).
Who’s buying these counterfeit goods? No buyers, no sellers.
Agree or not on whether these counterfeit goods sellers deserved this, but you all have to realize that in the midst of this agents went up to numerous others demanding ID – reports say that all the people they went up to were non-white.
Please don’t tell me some of yall support that.
Ken, Most if not all the Senegalese and other Africans are black, and Chinese are Chinese. This is not a racism issue. Politicizing this doesn’t change the fact that selling counterfeit goods and drugs on the sidewalk is a crime. Black, brown and otherwise.
1. Donald is an evil-thug-despot who among other unconscionable things has created a Stasi-like ICE entity.
Yes the US and all nations need to have proper administration over borders and immigration – but Donald’s ICE operation is horrific as is everything else Donald has done.
2. At the same time, people are not “entitled” to sell stuff on the street, do illegal stuff, block the sidewalk, hassle pedestrians etc. Seems especially egregious and entitled if you’ve come to NYC from elsewhere – whether from out of state or out of country. (For example, would not be OK for me to go to Mali or Malaysia and sell bikinis on the street or go to Singapore and litter on the street).
3. Ultimately it is the failure of the Mayor and City Council. They’ve ignored what has been happening and actually prioritized “street vendors” over everyone and anything else.
City Council has passed legislation basically protecting illegal street vendors.
BTW take a trip out to Elmhurst and see what has happened there – residents, local shops and businesses (immigrant owned for what it is worth) are overwhelmed by the “street vendors” who’ve basically taken over.
Well put. Might I add that it is not just Trump, but the GOP who has capitulated to him, his administration which is enacting the Project 2025 agenda, as well as those who voted him into office with the delusion that it won’t happen to them.
Well said. The brutality of the methods is overkill, but the need for enforcement is there and justified. Parts of the city – including the Canal Street area – otherwise descend into chaotic lawless zones (let’s not even get started on the other lawless problem around Canal Street – the driving!).
Why is everyone so against the concept of Making America or Tribeca Great Again …
These calamity street trouble makers are a major problem not only in Tribeca, the US but also globally. The are like a blight to our city.
If you are all for human trafficking and other criminal activities than you have a problem with this. If you are human you don’t.
Everyone needs to turn the news off and take a look around. If you are someone who doesn’t give a shit about politics you can see that beyond the rhetoric there are a lot of problems that need clean up.
Personally as someone who has had enough with the do nothing about it society, governments, and police it is nice to see change finally. I never thought I would say that but I am leaning towards change now even if it is hard to watch and a bit rough. Tough times call for tough action.
It’s painful and disheartening to see how gleeful people are to surrender their right to due process if it means “cleaning up” one square block. Wealthy, poor, legal, illegal, criminal, or upstanding citizen, we all have the right to due process – something this administration and ICE are running roughshod over.
Today, you may have little in common with those who are being arrested without due process and disappeared, but that won’t last long. Authoritarian regimes are built to see everyone as the enemy – they are built to destroy.
If human history has taught us anything, it is that at some point, these masked, nameless men will come for someone you know, then someone you like, and then you and your family.
For what it’s worth, know that when that happens, I will post here defending your right to due process.
Agree with F. It MATTERS how things are handled. The notion of cleansing by violent means without upholding the rule of law by untrained thugs in masks is the essence of Fascism.
Desperate problem requires desperate measures. Do nothing is no longer an option no matter how you justify with the distorted ideology and misplaced empathy. Take back our sidewalk, make civility great again.
Where has there not been due process? It’s not authoritarian to enforce the law just because you don’t like the guy in office. Don’t blame the federal government when state and local authorities have totally abdicated their responsibility to enforce the law day after day and year after year. Everyone who lives down here knows exactly what is going on there with illegal counterfeiting, illegal drug use/trafficking, all of which is tied to trafficking and money laundering issues. The failure to address this lies at state and local officials feet for turning a blind eye for far too long.
It would also help from a mask and unidentified standpoint if people would stop attacking federal officials for merely doing their job. Even here, people were obstructing and causing physical confrontations just because federal officers were enforcing the law. Maybe stop screaming “authoritarianism!” Let them do their jobs and maybe they would be able to enforce e these things in a more calm, and identifiable manner
I’ve spent a little time studying fascism.
The good news: since they are built on paranoia, they’ll end up turning inwards to internecine battles and destroy themselves too.
The bad news: it’s unlikely to happen until they’re done with the ‘others’.
Totally disagree. ‘Disheartening’? This is what the rule of law looks like when the elected officials turn a blind eye. What’s disheartening is five years on they are still paralyzed by the situation and can’t do more than the daily cat and mouse game and occasional show raid, enough is enough. Hypocrisy and confused ideology have no place in sustaining a city as complex as New York. We should be thankful some degree of law and order is still possible.
Why is there the assumption that there will be no due process? There was reasonable cause for arrest, since the sellers were repeatedly breaking the law, and fines alone were not working as deterrent. Won’t the arrested by processed through the courts, according to current governing law? Isn’t that what we mean by due process?
Well said F………
Look at what happened in Doral , Florida.
Everyone voted in favor of deportation UNTIL they came for their friends, neighbors, relatives in the middle of the night at their homes , at schools & churches. Then they no longer were in favor! Then they opposed this dictator.This people is just the beginning. Buckle down, we’re in for severe turbulence that can destroy what you and I consider free speech/democracy. Ask yourself: Will you trade in democracy in order to get rid of street vendors?
Was it ok to allow criminal illegal aliens to flood our cities at the expense both financially and otherwise of the citizens of this country?
9 of our so called neighbors were arrested and hopefully will get deported, they have been convicted of counterfeiting, robbery, burglary, domestic violence, possession with intent to sell (drug dealing) forgery. The kind of people progressives love and coddle and hope they are free today to go back and earn a living on Canal Street. Wake up Everybody (to quote Teddy Pendergrass)
The “protestors” who showed up have no skin in this game–they don’t live here and have not had to walk through the open-air loose weed market or seen the garbage left behind on our streets day after day. This is truly a quality of life issue that has gone on for TOO LONG.
Ironically, there is a Zoom Community Roundtable that is set for this afternoon at 4 pm to discuss this. It was originally scheduled for Yom Kippur, but was changed to this afternoon. Unfortunately, the focus will most certainly now be on the arrests of these “upstanding citizens” as opposed to protecting the legitimate residents of downtown NYC. Please register if you are able to attend to voice your concern:
https://sohobroadway.org/join-soho-broadway-initiative-for-a-community-roundtable-regarding-street-vending-enforcement/
After years and weeks of complaining on here yall finally got yall wish granted. I can’t lie I hate counterfeits but that was always the stigma and dna of canal street for as long as I can remember. I think the weed selling was just plain horrendous by church and canal that needed to go for sure. What will be Canal’s new identity any ideas?
When I read these shockingly cruel comments, I feel I don’t know who my neighbors are anymore. Everyone is entitled to due process.
Alexandra I agree. What world are we living in?
They park their cars with fake out of state licence plates.( North Carolina etc.) I just saw one vendor walking to Broadway with his goods while the king pin ( see him every day) sat on the hydrant and shouted out while the NYPD car pulled up. There were half a dozen Africans in the middle of transactions and they are not budging! Nor was the king pin. I guess when they saw it was only the NYPD they just carried on.
NYPD does nothing. I’ve spoken with them on several occasions and they always claimed they have no real power of enforcement, and that change will only come if the “people at the top” change. Since Mamdami is likely to be our next mayor, and we can expect he will take an even softer (if it can be imagined) approach to illegal vendor enforcement, the problem will only get worse. If the sidewalks get widened, as proposed, that will not make the situation better for residents and pedestrians; it will just invite even more vendors to spread out more of their junk. More public urination, more littering, more aggressive solicitations, more blockage of sidewalks, subway entrances, building entrances.
So clearly stronger, regular enforcement is needed, including daily seizures of the counterfeit junk, and tracing the unk back to the sources, and shutting those down.
I dont wish harm on anyone but the Brooklyn Bridge is so much better for walking since the NYPD began kicking out many of the vendors who illegally set up shop along the narrow walkway. The same would be true if Canal/Broadway/Lispenard were cleared of illegal vendors. It just so happens that I suspect many of the vendors are at risk of ICE as well. Its shocking the city lets this go on.
Thank you to F. (An actual born and raised New Yorker) and the few others here who understand the vital importance of due process in holding together our fragile democracy. My comment, below, is also for the folks who assume that the people who are ‘complaining’ about the raids don’t live here.
My partner and I bought a newly renovated loft on Lispenard, the street where the recent raid took place, a few years before the iconic Pearl Paint closed. (I had already been living in Soho/West Village for over 30 years before that purchase.) So, for years, I walked past the crew who camped out on that corner in front of the defunct bank a few times daily. They weren’t the most friendly bunch, (but then again, neither are many of the hundreds of construction workers I’ve passed over the the past few decades in this city who still can’t resist catcalling women and calling us wh*res or worse when we ignore them) but being friendly clearly isn’t a legal requirement in this city, so as New Yorkers, we deal with it. And yes, sometimes, they took up more of the sidewalk than they should, which is legit annoying. But there’s a massive difference between feeling/getting annoyed about the various things that irritate us in this city and wanting these issues to be dealt with in a way that respects human and civil rights vs. endorsing mass ICE raids in a city which was literally built on the backs of immigrants. If people are detained humanely and fairly prosecuted with due process, that’s one thing. But this aggressive show of force is a tactic by this administration meant to intimidate New Yorkers, and supporting raids like this is evidence that people are determined to ignore history. WWII anyone? Who paid attention in History class re: the rise of H*tler? It’s all fine and good until they come FOR YOU, right?
What bothers me most is how people are entirely comfortable with the trampling / ignoring / complete disregard of people’s rights to due process—as long as it serves their own needs. (A point that F made in the comments here, quite clearly.) Due process means you don’t target people based on their ethnicity or the color of their skin. You don’t grab them off the streets and deport them to detention centers where the conditions are inhumane, and send them to countries they’ve never stepped foot in. About 70% of those detained and disappeared DO NOT have criminal records—and of those with criminal records, many have only committed minor offenses like traffic violations. You don’t do this nor endorse it simply because you find black/brown/asian vendors distasteful. There’s A LOT that’s distasteful in this city, but if we want to preserve a properly functioning democracy, we don’t allow ICE raids and ‘homeland security’ to pepper spray, attack, tase, beat (or worse) citizens and immigrants. It’s amazing to me the level of pain and lack of humanity Americans can witness and turn a blind eye because they THINK it serves them.
Check out these quotes from recent news reports about the raid..is this what you’re all so happy about?
“As agents tried to detain individuals, crowds of New Yorkers gathered, shouting and pushing in an attempt to intervene. Some bystanders were heard cursing at officers, one officer was seen pointing his taser at the angry crowd, and several arrests were made. Some vendors said they were asked to show passports or proof of legal status, but it’s unclear where the detained individuals were taken away”.—The independent
“As agents tried to detain individuals, crowds of New Yorkers gathered, shouting and pushing in an attempt to intervene. Some bystanders were heard cursing at officers, one officer was seen pointing his taser at the angry crowd, and several arrests were made”.— ABC 7
“As the dust settled on Oct. 22, Nwa Ngam, who sells sweatshirts on Lafayette Street, recalled watching helplessly on Tuesday as a friend of over a decade and a half was whisked away in handcuffs without explanation — even though he had an official NYC vendor ID around his neck. I know him. That’s his vendor’s license. You see his license? So, he wasn’t an illegal vendor, like they said,” Ngam said when amNewYork showed her a photograph of her friend being detained. ”I know him to be a hard-working man who has been in Chinatown for the last 16, 17 years. He sells cellphone cases, comes to work, and goes home every day. A lot of people are scared. If I was illegal, I would be scared too, because I left my kids at home, at school to come here. What if I went into custody? What if they took me? What would happen to my kids?” she said. “Everybody needs to stand up. You cannot just be safe and other people be unsafe. We all have to do our part.” — AM NY
And while HS released information about those taken yesterday, which was shared in a following post by this blog today, I can’t imagine how anyone trusts a word that comes out of the DOJ. The 10/25 60 Minutes interview with Erez Reuveni, a former attorney with the DOJ, admitted that Abrego Garcia (whom 47 falsely declared was a violent gang member) was wrongly deported and that Reuvini’s superior ordered him to write a false legal brief asserting that Garcia was a member of MS-13 which was absolutely “not factually correct. It was not legally correct. That is, that is a lie.” — Erez Reuveni
It’d distressing how thrilled folks here are about the raid—asserting that justice was done. PLEASE. You’re all so fixated on a group of Black, Brown, and Asian vendors. All around us, criminal activity is occurring in the White House, Epstein papers still not released, our self-dealing president raking in dough as he rips our Constitution’s Emolument’s clause to shreds, using the power of his office to attack his critics like the wannabe king that he is. It’s shameful how Tribeca has transformed from a neighborhood where some of our greatest artists and journalists once lived into a community of banker bros and 47-loving sycophants, while our educational institutions and news orgs are being blackmailed, and access to healthcare and civil rights are being stripped away. One can only hope that the concept of karma is real.
Thank you!
Absolutely agree with Alexandra Neil!
And thank you to Kay for taking the time to thoughtfully lay out what is at stake here while others jeer from the sidelines…
It seems that many of you do not know what due process means, so just to clarify:
If you are an immigrant who has been detained by ICE and are facing deportation, you are entitled to a notice of the charges against you. The government must provide you with a charging document, often called a “notice to appear,” outlining the reasons for potential deportation.
You have the right to present evidence before an immigration judge to show why you should not be deported. You might be seeking asylum, for example, or have a student visa or green card. You are entitled to a judgment based on the facts of the case and applicable law — and you have the right to appeal the decision to a higher court.
You cannot simply be ripped off the streets and deported without a chance to defend yourself. That would be a clear violation of due process.
Our country was founded on the idea that the government cannot arbitrarily take away your rights and liberties — and that everyone has a right to defend themselves. And that really means everyone.
The word “person” in the 5th Amendment makes no distinction between citizens and noncitizens. The 14th Amendment makes this applicable to the states as well. And the Supreme Court has reaffirmed this multiple times — conservative and liberal justices have agreed.
Due process is a fundamental constitutional protection to ensure that all of us can maintain our life, liberty, and our property — regardless of who we are or where we come from.
This is a right that goes to the very roots of our democracy.
Thank you.
Thank you for that, which all sounds right and just. However, the fact that they were arrested alone does not violate due process, does it? Of course, it remains to be seen whether the remaining due process steps are properly enacted, or bypassed.
If you’re highlighting that there was no violation of due process, then I agree. If not, then I’m amused.
Another thing I feel has not been mentioned.
The administration does not really care about counterfeit goods. I think we can all agree on that as adults.
With this raid, what they’re trying to do is incite. We’re lucky that nothing happened with the protest, but I think what’s really happening is they want something violent to occur.
They are looking for a reason to send troops into our city. So disregarding how you feel about the counterfeiters, how are you going to feel when there’s an occupation army roaming our streets, chasing down deliveristas, hassling random brown people, etc.?
What kind of quality of life do you think that is?
Lastly: I just want to shout out the woman at the protest yesterday dressed in business attire while she threw double birds up at ICE. Ma’am, you’re my hero.
You are so right, Malcom.
You mean Tank Lady? The one who ran off when armed HS police exited the armored vehicle and flanked it?
https://youtu.be/A-dfGo_jW8w?si=Tdm74-TvmpUSCsgk&t=65
Not sure what point you’re trying to make.
It was a great visual. I’m not looking for people to get hurt.
Malcolm – agreed. Additionally, How will we all feel when ICE agents are patrolling polling sites?
I’m actually noticing real progress in the hearts and minds of my neighbors. Not everyone is nodding in agreement at the intellectually lazy drivel equating Trump to Hitler, ICE to the Stasi, law enforcement with racism, and earned respect and admiration with sycophancy. This is real progress, and deserves a moment of appreciation. Who knows, if the trend continues, we might even see more people looking to the readily available legal decisions of the Supreme Court when deciding which side of the law they’re on, rather than deferring to the the legal scholars in the comment section of the Tribeca Citizen.
I know I’m being overly optimistic on a Friday afternoon, but someone might have even notice that whereas the legal scholars of the TC comment section believe due process means you don’t target people based on their ethnicity or the color of their skin, the SC has ruled that ICE officers are permitted to conduct stops based on ethnicity or language use; or that whereas the legal scholars of the TC comment section believe you can’t grab people off the streets and send them to countries they’ve never stepped foot in, the SC has, in fact, upheld the administration’s policy of deporting migrants to third countries — without requiring individualized hearings.
But hey, they’re just an illegitimate arm of Trump’s Nazi regime now, right? Right.
Right!