Outrage mounted and questions remained unanswered after federal agents detained multiple people on Chinatown’s Canal Street in an aggressive immigration raid Tuesday.
U.S. Homeland Security officials say they arrested more than a dozen people during the operation, including nine undocumented immigrants, four people who allegedly assaulted a federal officer and another who allegedly obstructed law enforcement by blocking a driveway.
Immigrant advocates said they scrambled to respond as masked agents made arrests in the busy street ahead of rush hour.
“This chaos was created by these federal agents who seemingly wanted to start a fight,” said Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition. “This was choreographed in the sense of them doing this to get New Yorkers to see that they're doing something, but they're not doing anything for our safety and security.”
What we know about the federal immigration raid in Chinatown
A raid by federal immigration authorities on Saturday in New York City was thwarted by about...
