U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted a raid on Canal Street in Lower Manhattan on Oct. 21. Federal agents targeted vendors selling counterfeit goods in Chinatown. Thirteen people were arrested during the operation — four were U.S. citizens.
The Americans were held at 26 Federal Plaza for 24 hours without federal charges, released only after Congressman Dan Goldman announced a press conference on Wednesday calling the actions “lawless terror.” Their families had filed missing persons’ reports with the New York City Police Department during their detention.
ICE is not allowed to arrest American citizens. Yet four citizens lost their freedom for a day because federal agents lacked the proper process to verify immigration status before making arrests. The nine undocumented immigrants detained during the same operation were moved to Delaney Hall in New York.
The problem is structural, rather than incidental. ICE operates with administrative warrants issued by the agency itself, not judicial warrants signed by judges. Administrative warrants lack the due process of protections that judicial warrants provide. Without judicial oversight, there is no credible mechanism to distinguish between citizens and immigrants during enforcement operations.
The result is predictable. Racial profiling becomes the actual screening method when agents lack judicial warrants requiring probable cause. The Canal Street raid is a perfect example. Agents targeted vendors in Chinatown, a neighborhood where appearance alone became the basis for suspicion. This was not an aberration, but rather the logical outcome of a system designed without meaningful oversight.
White House Border Czar Tom Homan has promised more operations. During an interview on Fox News, Homan stated that NYC will see increased enforcement because the city remains in sanctuary jurisdiction. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said that New Yorkers will see an “increase in ICE arrests” and said the nine arrested individuals had long criminal records including forgery, drug possession, drug trafficking, robbery and assault.
Elected officials have not been immune from these enforcement actions. NYC Comptroller Brad Lander was arrested at 26 Federal Plaza while attempting to observe immigration proceedings.
He faces a misdemeanor charge for blocking entrances, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 days in prison. Unlike state lawmakers who accepted deals to adjourn their cases, Lander chose to take his case to trial. A group of state assembly members and senators arrested alongside him accepted adjournments in contemplation of dismissal, requiring them to avoid arrest on federal property for six months.
The justification for expanded enforcement rests on claims about public safety and criminal activity.
However, NYC crime rates are at record lows according to the latest NYPD data. Over the first nine months of 2025, citywide shooting incidents declined more than 20% year-to-date to their lowest level ever. Murders dropped more than 17.7% citywide and burglaries fell to the second-lowest level in recorded history.
Mayor Eric Adams has maintained that undocumented New Yorkers pursuing the “American Dream” should not be law enforcement targets and that resources should focus on violent criminals instead.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office stated that federal intervention is not wanted or needed and that NYC is safer and stronger than ever due to record investments in the NYPD and local law enforcement.
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani reached out to the White House to meet with Trump. The meeting went well, but diplomatic gestures cannot change the structure of ICE operations.
If federal agents operate with administrative warrants rather than judicial warrants, racial profiling and wrongful detention of citizens will remain inevitable outcomes.
The lack of due process means agents cannot reliably distinguish between citizens and immigrants without resorting to appearance-based assumptions. Homan referenced a previous agreement with Adams to allow ICE into Rikers Island to address immigrants in Rikers’ security.
The city council shut down that agreement. Homan stated that teams are in NYC now, which means enforcement is increasing.
New York Attorney General Letitia James launched a portal for the public to submit photos and videos of ICE activity. She vowed to review materials to determine if laws were violated, including unlawful questioning, detention or intimidation. The portal represents an earnest attempt to create accountability in a system designed to operate without it.
The Canal Street raid and the arrest of elected officials are previews of how increased enforcement will look. Without judicial warrants requiring probable cause and due process, ICE will continue to sweep up citizens alongside immigrants. The four Americans arrested on Canal Street are evidence that the system cannot function without violating constitutional rights.
NYC faces an inevitable clash with federal immigration authorities. Diplomatic meetings between elected officials and the White House cannot resolve the structural problem of enforcement without judicial oversight.
Until ICE adopts judicial warrants that provide due process protections, increased enforcement will mean more wrongful arrests, more racial profiling and more violations of citizens’ constitutional rights.
