Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director Todd Lyons said Wednesday that New York City will see more immigration arrests, after protesters confronted agents during an operation.
“You will see an increase in ICE arrests because there are so many criminals and illegal aliens that have been released in New York, specifically,” Lyons said in a Fox News interview.
“You will see us making those criminal arrests to make New York safe again. It’s definitely intelligence driven, it’s not random,” Lyons said. “We aren’t pulling people off the street. There was a specific reason based on criminal intelligence and criminal activity that we showed up on Canal Street.”
The Hill reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
ICE agents “conducted a targeted, intelligence-driven enforcement operation on Canal Street in New York City, focused on criminal activity relating to selling counterfeit goods” on Tuesday, the DHS told The Hill.
Four U.S. citizens were arrested during the incident, Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.) said at a press conference, ABC News reported. They were held at 26 Federal Plaza for nearly 24 hours. About 30 minutes after the press conference was announced, they were released.
“ICE is not allowed to arrest American citizens,” Goldman said.
When asked about the four American citizens, the DHS statement to The Hill highlighted the following: “Additionally, four violent rioters were arrested for assaulting law and enforcement, and another rioter was arrested for obstruction.”
“ICE arrested nine illegal aliens with criminal histories including robbery, burglary domestic violence, assaulting law enforcement, counterfeiting, drug trafficking, drug possession and forgery,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in the statement. “The majority of those arrested were released into the country by the Biden administration.”
Protesters confronted ICE agents during the Canal Street enforcement operation, which began midafternoon. They pushed back on the masked agents, shouting, “ICE out of New York” and “fascists.”
NewsNation, The Hill’s sister network, captured video multiple of arrests. One person was captured on live TV being pinned to the ground and zip tied. The person, who appeared to be a protester and wore a face covering, was taken by law enforcement while he was face down on the ground.
