The US Department of Homeland Security proudly announced that it had caught a number of people it referred to as “illegal aliens” during Tuesday’s raid in Chinatown — one that drew the voiceferous wrath of New Yorkers who recorded the spectacle.
DHS said the operation was “a targeted, intelligence-driven enforcement operation” by ICE and its federal partners to take down a number of street vendors on Canal Street, with a focus “on criminal activity relating to selling counterfeit goods.”
Never before have we recalled the last time the federal government sent heavily armed officers in armored vehicles down Canal Street to bust merchants of counterfeit merchandise. It was the equivalent of using a sledgehammer to swat a fly.
Such raids are usually left to the NYPD, which does not operate in such stings with that heavy a hand. And yet the NYPD says it had no part in the federal operation Tuesday, nor was it even contacted by the DHS in advance. The city’s top law enforcement agency was shut out. City Hall says it was shut out, too.
It’s outrageous that our city’s government was kept in the dark while federal agents operated.
It’s outrageous that the NYPD was left to deal with the situation created by ICE agents who, as they have done for months at Federal Plaza, roughly apprehend their targets and violate the constitutional rights of those who peacefully object.
Despite what DHS claims, it’s obvious that the Chinatown raid of Oct. 21 was not merely about rounding up “illegal aliens” or stopping the sale of counterfeit goods. It is part of a pattern of aggressive behavior on the streets of New York City.
ICE must cease this aggressive, unilateral behavior immediately.
It is undermining the agency’s homeland security mission and provoking great anger among Americans. It is also undermining the cause of law enforcement nationwide; their behavior puts the NYPD in danger as well.
ICE must also order its agents to remove their masks while on duty immediately, and Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature must pass legislation to reinstate the mask ban to ensure full compliance even if the agency does not do the right thing.
If ICE cannot enforce laws or apprehend undocumented people without endangering the public or working with the NYPD, what good is it really doing?
But let us also be clear about another point.
It is crucial for New Yorkers who are angry not to let it get the better of them. Violence is not the answer. Peaceful protest is not submission. All New Yorkers must take care not to fight fire with fire.
We urge those who protest to do so within the law, and not to let others’ aggression bait them into breaking it.
