ICE Raids On NYC Immigrants Underway, Mayor Says

NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Bill de Blasio said federal immigration agents were seen in New York City Saturday, hours before the nationwide roundup of immigrants facing deportation was expected to begin.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents attempted two unsuccessful raids Saturday in Sunset Park and one in East Harlem, city officials said. Immigration officers left the scene without making any arrests in all three cases, according to the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, which said it confirmed the attempts with eyewitnesses.

Those attempted raids were the only reports of ICE activity the city had confirmed as of about 3 p.m. Sunday. And four immigrant hotlines were quiet as of Sunday afternoon, said a spokesperson for the Legal Aid Society, which runs one of the lines.

But city officials said they were still keeping an eye on the situation.

“We are working both on the ground and with numerous community partners to monitor, share, and respond to ICE activities throughout the five boroughs as they are reported through multiple rapid response hotlines,” Immigrant Affairs Commissioner Bitta Mostofi said in a statement.

Warnings that ICE agents were checking for identification at the West 72nd Street 1, 2, and 3 train station on the Upper West Side were posted to social media but later proved to be unfounded, according to the New York City Office of Immigration.

Elected officials have been scrambling to spread the word about New Yorkers' rights when faced with an ICE agent after the federal government announced ten cities would be targets for raids on immigrants with orders to leave the United States.

New York City has set up a 311 hotline for immigrants to find out more information about their rights, which the Mayor included in his tweet.

The raids, backed by Donald Trump, will take place over several days and will target criminals and “bad players,” the president said, but anyone who came to the United States illegally and previously ignored deportation orders could be rounded up.

An ICE official declined to provide specific details about the agency’s enforcement operations out of concern for the safety of its personnel and “law-enforcement sensitivities.”

“As always, ICE prioritizes the arrest and removal of unlawfully present aliens who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security,” the ICE official said. “... However, all of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and – if found removable by final order – removal from the United States.”

The raids reportedly target about 2,000 people previously ordered out of the country but still living in 10 cities: Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, Baltimore, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City and San Francisco.

However, with Tropical Storm Barry threatening hurricane status, the city of New Orleans tweeted that ICE enforcement would be suspended through the weekend.

The agency didn’t offer any specifics ahead of the raids, saying only in a statement: “As always, ICE prioritizes the arrest and removal of unlawfully present aliens who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security.”

Former Department of Homeland Security officials who spoke to The New York Times said the raids will produce “collateral arrests” of people who happen to be on the scene who weren’t specifically targeted for deportation, but are deportable.

The American Civil Liberties Union said in a federal lawsuit filed in New York that thousands of migrants fleeing violence in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras haven’t been given a fair chance to make their asylum pleas in court, but were still ordered deported.

Patch editor Noah Manskar and the Associated Press contributed reporting.