Tensions Remain High After ICE Grabs Vendors As Part of Fed Raid on Fake Goods on Canal St.

An ICE raid near Chinatown’s Canal Street on Oct. 21 was swift, as the popular tourist spot known for counterfeit goods saw people being rounded up and angry crowd trying to halt vehicles.

The tension continued to boil over on Oct. 22 as crowds began filling Foley Square for a second day of protests that evening.

How many were arrested or detained was a source of wild divergence. On the day of the raid, which got underway around 3 p.m., some early press reports were saying 80 people were detained. When Straus News was there later in the day, eyewitnesses were saying the number was around 40.

Vice president of advocacy at the New York Immigration Coalition, Murad Awawdeh, said that between 15 and 40 street vendors were taken into custody, and he said two protesters were arrested for trying to stop them. “These are hardworking people trying to survive,” Awawdeh said. “This is not justice, this is intimidation.”

By Oct. 22, the Department of Homeland Security provided a few more details and said it had conducted “targeted, intelligence-driven enforcement operation on Canal Street in New York City focused on criminal activity relating to selling counterfeit goods.”

It also lowered the number of detained to nine men who hailed from Senegal, Guinea, Mali, and Mauritania, and some have criminal histories that include a variety of charges like robbery, burglary, domestic violence, assaulting law enforcement and more, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said.

They were apprehended by masked and heavily armed ICE agents on the stretch between Centre and Lafayette streets, an area long associated with counterfeit handbags, watches, and electronic gear that gets heavy foot traffic from tourists and locals alike.

According to federal officials, the enforcement was part of a larger, coordinated operation aimed at cracking down on counterfeit goods.

It is a move that reignited debate over how immigration laws intersect with informal street economies.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that agents were targeting vendors accused of selling fake merchandise..

The scene unfolded quickly and drew large crowds, with bystanders recording as agents loaded individuals into vehicles.

NYPD officials have since said the department had no role in the raid, which was carried out entirely by federal authorities but they did make arrests later on as protesters clashed with police.

City leaders and immigrant advocates responded almost immediately, calling the sweep a heavy-handed display of federal power that risks undermining community trust.

In a statement, Council Member Christopher Marte described the raid as “a horrifying display of federal overreach,” saying that “ICE has no place in New York City, especially not in the heart of Chinatown, terrorizing our immigrant neighbors with military vehicles and masked agents.”

He accused the Adams administration of violating sanctuary city laws by collaborating with federal immigration authorities, arguing that “the challenges around vending on Canal Street are real and must be addressed, but federal agents storming our streets and targeting community members is not the solution.”

Marte’s comments point to the growing tension between local and federal enforcement in New York City, and the perception among some officials that the city has drifted from its commitment to protect undocumented residents.

As Straus News previously reported, the same corridor has seen its share of provocateurs harassing Black and immigrant vendors trying to make a living, often filming and confronting them for viral content.

That tension, coupled with periodic enforcement actions, has made Canal Street a flashpoint in ongoing debates about who gets to work and sell in public spaces.

Many of the gift shops in the surrounding area told Straus News that the commotion on the streets creates uncertainty for their businesses, saying they felt unsafe even while operating seemingly legally.