ICE agents snatched a young mother off a Brooklyn street Tuesday night, Brooklyn City Council Member Susan Zhuang told amNewYork Wednesday.
The incident occurred at approximately 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 19, near the corner of Bay 32nd and 86th Streets in Bensonhurst. Zhuang was one of dozens of local residents who responded to the scene after hearing of ICE agents lurking in the neighborhood.
“I rushed over, and there’s four ICE agent cars there. By that time, they had already snatched a young lady from the street,” Zhuang told amNewYork. “I went to talk to a family and tried to get the resources they needed.”
According to Zhuang, the federal agents were initially spotted knocking on doors before the woman, only described as in her 20s and as a mother of an eight-month-old baby, was apparently lured out to the streets, where she was taken.
“The person did not hear the door knocking, and then she got a phone call, and then she came out. They got the person on the street. I think it’s a setup,” Zhuang said.
Reports of ICE’s presence brought dozens of people to the location with the apparent intention of observing and potentially interrupting ICE activity. That prompted a response from the NYPD, with several officers deployed to the location for crowd control.
“I was getting notifications in our chat that ICE was knocking on doors, so we rushed over here to see what was happening. It was about 20-40 of us just doing our best to keep them at bay,” one person who raced to the area said.
Zhuang told amNewYork that she knew of as many as 10 constituents in her district having been taken into ICE custody since March. While she said she does not oppose the apprehension of criminals in ICE’s sights, she is outraged that the agents have been arresting individuals with no criminal records and tearing families apart.
The council member added that ICE detainments are also having an impact on the local economy in her primarily immigrant community.
“The ICE issue really actually affects the local economy, because I have a lot of immigrants in my district, a lot of immigrant stores. Business is down 30 to 40% because people are not traveling, they’re afraid to come out,” Zhuang said.
Zhuang urged her constituents to contact her office with any concerns about ICE activity in her area.
