A dramatic Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in New York City’s Chinatown has led to the arrest of nine illegal migrants with lengthy criminal histories, federal officials announced Wednesday.
Agents from ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) carried out the targeted raid Tuesday along the notorious Canal Street corridor between Lafayette and Centre Streets — a stretch long plagued by unlicensed sidewalk vendors selling counterfeit luxury goods and stolen merchandise.
According to DHS officials, the operation was “intelligence-driven” and focused on organized criminal activity involving counterfeit products. “ICE conducted a targeted, intelligence-driven enforcement operation on Canal Street in New York City, focused on criminal activity relating to selling counterfeit goods,” said Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security.
“ICE arrested nine illegal aliens with criminal histories including robbery, burglary, domestic violence, assaulting law enforcement, counterfeiting, drug trafficking, drug possession, and forgery,” she added.
Officials said most of those detained had previously been released into the U.S. under the Biden administration’s immigration policies.
The raid came shortly after conservative journalist Savanah Hernandez shared footage from the area, describing the street scene as “the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”
For years, Canal Street has been overrun by illegal vendors who set up makeshift stands packed with fake designer bags and watches, blocking sidewalks, creating trash buildup, and hurting legitimate local businesses.
“They take over the sidewalk,” said one frustrated shop owner. “People can’t pass. The vendors don’t care. We talk to them, and they want to fight.”
While the NYPD has repeatedly conducted quality-of-life sweeps in the area, vendors typically scatter and return once officers leave.
Despite the criminal backgrounds of several arrested individuals, the ICE raid sparked protests from left-wing activists. Two demonstrators were taken into custody by the NYPD, including 34-year-old Jennifer Hansen — an anarchist with six prior arrests, including a June bust for allegedly assaulting an officer. She now faces charges of disorderly conduct and obstructing governmental administration.
A second protester, a 33-year-old man, was also cited for disorderly conduct.
Among those arrested in the ICE sweep were several Senegalese nationals, including Muhammad Ndiaye, who entered the U.S. on a tourist visa and overstayed by nearly three decades after being ordered to leave in 1995. Others included Idy Sarr, the subject of a 2010 deportation order; Sergigne Diop, who was caught at the southern border last year and later released by the Biden administration; and Modou Mboup, a migrant who entered the U.S. as part of a caravan and was released under the previous administration.
Additional arrestees included Alione Sy, a Senegalese migrant who overstayed his visa in 2023; Amadou Diallo, an illegal immigrant from Guinea; Bokar Soko, a fugitive counterfeiter from Mauritania; Mamadou Ndoye, a Malian national ordered deported in 2008; and accused counterfeiter Aboubakar Diakite.
Federal authorities confirmed that six of the nine arrested migrants have prior criminal convictions — including Ndiaye, who has been arrested for robbery, domestic violence, narcotics offenses, and forgery. Mboup, officials added, has a prior assault charge involving Mexican law enforcement.