Around 300 protesters rallied at Foley Square Wednesday evening to condemn U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s raid on Canal Street the day prior, demanding an immediate halt to the agency’s “criminalization” of immigrant communities. 

The protest, organized by six New York City immigrant and social justice organizations, came after ICE detained nine vendors of African descent as part of its “intelligence-driven enforcement operation” targeting counterfeit sellers. Protesters gathered at around 6 p.m., less than five minutes away from Lafayette Hall, chanting “No ICE, no KKK, no fascist USA” and holding signs that read “Hands off NYC” and “The people demand ICE out.”

To commence the rally, a series of activists made speeches denouncing Tuesday’s raid. Protesters, many of whom wore keffiyehs and masks, proceeded to march up Centre Street toward Canal Street around 7 p.m. After making their way south on Broadway, they stopped at 26 Federal Plaza — where ICE brings detainees for processing — for around 15 minutes before dispersing around 7:45 p.m. 

“We’re not going to let ICE run over all our streets and take people out of their homes,” Ryan Phillips, a student from City University of New York who attended the protest, told WSN. “No one’s illegal in this city, and we’re all New Yorkers.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin claimed on X that five of the detainees “entered illegally & were released into the country by the Biden administration.” DHS also detailed several detainees’ identities on X and posted a photoshopped image of eight detainees’ figure heads on crystal ice figures in Chinatown. 

Dozens of New York City Police Department officers surrounded the rally and subsequent march. They arrested two protesters after altercations with conservative content creator Nick Shirley, who received over 30,000 views on his two-hour livestream of the demonstration. 

The first arrest took place at around 6:45 p.m., when a masked protester slammed Shirley’s phone to the ground. The second was made around 20 minutes later, when another masked protester tried to confront Shirley but was immediately intercepted, sparking chaos in the surrounding area. Timothy Beaudette, the deputy chief at Patrol Borough Manhattan South, told Shirley that they would be charged with “disorderly conduct” and asked if he was injured. 

ICE conducted its Tuesday raid just two blocks from Lafayette Hall, where residents reported seeing nearly 100 protesters blocking vehicles from driving the arrested men to 26 Federal Plaza. The incident turned into a rally at Foley Square and resulted in 14 total arrests, including four protesters. NYU said its facilities and community members were not affected by the commotion.

“The Trump regime is turning our neighborhoods, our streets, into places of terror,” Zachary Hendrickson, an organizer with the New York City Democratic Socialists, told WSN. “Being a street vendor is not a crime. Trying to make a living in America should not be a crime.”

Contact Eva Mundo at [email protected].