Inside ICE's Brooklyn Raids: Agents Arrest Targets as Mamdani Escalates

ICE agents hit Brooklyn streets at 5:50 a.m. on a recent Thursday to arrest immigrants with criminal records, in a ride-along Fox News Digital published Friday, as Mayor Zohran Mamdani steps up his opposition to the agency.

Ken Genalo, a Brooklyn native and 34-year law enforcement veteran who heads ICE enforcement operations in New York City, told Fox the street arrests could be avoided if the city cooperated. He said ICE once ran a unit at Rikers Island that took more than 100 people a week into custody. "There is no cooperation today," he said in substance, blaming Bill de Blasio for ending the arrangement and the City Council for blocking Eric Adams's effort to restore it.

One target, a 40-year-old Georgian national, was arrested at about 7:57 a.m. after a stakeout. ICE says he entered illegally in January 2023 and was arrested in September on a first-degree sexual abuse charge that remains pending. His next immigration court date is October 2028.

A second, a 45-year-old Haitian national, was taken in roughly four minutes at about 8:26 a.m. ICE says he entered legally in 1997, overstayed, and was ordered deported in 2006; a 2011 removal failed because Haiti would not issue travel documents. His record includes an assault conviction carrying seven years in prison. Genalo said New York authorities refused three ICE detainer requests. Agents waited until he had dropped his child at school, consistent with ICE policy. He claimed to be a U.S. citizen; Genalo disputed that, citing the removal order.

A third operation, targeting an Ecuadorian man facing child sexual misconduct charges, was disrupted, Genalo said, by protesters blowing whistles.

"100% all of this is about politics. It is not about public safety," Genalo said. "We don't kidnap people, we don't disappear people. We arrest people."

Mamdani recently posted a Spanish-language video telling residents they need not let agents in without a judicial order. Sen. Mike Lee said it does not urge compliance with U.S. law; Sen. Bernie Moreno called it "Treason." The Fox piece contained no response from city or state officials, and these are ICE's characterizations of its targets.