ICE launches raids in NYC as part of Trump immigration crackdown

NEW YORK — Federal ICE agents launched raids in New York City early Tuesday as part of President Donald Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said.

The agents hit at least three locations in the Bronx and took at least two people into custody, including a Venezuelan gang member wanted for an armed raid of an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado that was caught on camera, sources said.

“Arresting some criminal aliens this morning in NYC – thank you to the brave officers involved,” Noem wrote on X at about 6 a.m. Tuesday with pics of Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents preparing for the operation.

Noem put out a video of ICE agents taking at least one person into custody in the Bronx, who the secretary called “a dirtbag.”

“Criminal alien with kidnapping, assault & burglary charges is now in custody – thanks to @ICE,” she said. “Dirtbags like this will continue to be removed from our streets.”

Sporting heavy weapons and full tactical gear, federal agents converted on an apartment building on Ogden Ave. near W. 170th St. in Highbridge and busted down the door to get inside.

One tenant was doing his morning workout when the agents barged into his building.

“I hear this boom like an explosion and then I see this military group with like assault rifles going in the building,” said the tenant, who wished not to be named. “I’m like, who are they going after that requires that much firepower?”

“After the boom they were all just moving in,” he added. “I thought we were under attack.”

The Homeland Security secretary thanked several federal agencies in her posts, as well as the NYPD’s Special Operations Division.

A police source said some NYPD members are part of the Homeland Security Investigations Task Force, which looks for those involved in criminal cases. Doing so is not a violation of NYPD policy of not getting involved in apprehending a person whose only offense is being in the U.S. without proper documentation, the source said.

The source said the NYPD officers on the task force are not members of the department’s Special Operations Division.

Arrested on Ogden Ave. was Anderson Zambrano Pacheco, who in August was recorded holding a firearm and banging on doors with at least three other Tren de Aragua gang members at the Colorado apartment complex about 10 minutes before a fatal shooting nearby, police sources said.

Tren de Aragua is the largest criminal organization in Venezuela with more than 5,000 members, law enforcement officials said. Its members have been linked to human trafficking, extortion, drug crimes and murder.

Pacheco was wanted for burglary, kidnapping and extortion. NYPD officers were at the scene but did not enter the Ogden St. apartment where Pacheco and a woman believed to be his girlfriend were taken into custody, police sources said.

Mayor Eric Adams confirmed Tuesday he ordered the NYPD to work with federal agents in Pacheco’s capture.

“I directed the NYPD to coordinate with DHS’ Homeland Security Investigations and other federal law enforcement agencies — as allowed by law — to conduct a targeted operation to arrest an individual connected with multiple violent crimes,” the mayor said in a statement.

“As I have repeatedly said, we will not hesitate to partner with federal authorities to bring violent criminals to justice — just as we have done for years. Our commitment to protecting our city’s law-abiding residents, both citizens and immigrants, remains unwavering.”

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch dispatched a memo to all officers on Jan. 18, reminding them they can’t engage or assist with immigration enforcement or allow NYPD resources to be used for that purpose if there are no criminal allegations involved.

The NYPD clarified Tuesday in a statement to the Daily News that the department “does not engage in civil immigration enforcement, assist in any manner with civil immigration enforcement, or allow any Department resources to be used in connection with civil immigration enforcement.”

Yet the NYPD “continues to work daily with federal law enforcement agencies in connection with a wide range of criminal investigations,” a department spokesman said. “In particular, the Department participates in task forces with a variety of federal law enforcement agencies investigating violations of federal criminal law.”

The raids continued at an apartment building on Creston Ave. near E. 180th St. in the Tremont section of the Bronx.

Dozens of federal agents forced their way into a second-floor apartment, where they showed pictures of someone they were looking for that no one recognized, resident Yahaira Gonzalez recalled.

Agents took the names of everyone in the apartment and took at least one person, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, into custody, Gonzalez, 38, said.

The immigrant was being sought for questioning by Interpol in regards to a murder investigation, sources said.

Elizabeth Sepulveda, who lives in the Creston Ave. building, said she’s a supporter of Trump’s deportation of illegal immigrants but didn’t realize the initiative would hit so close to home.

“I’m f—ing surprised,” Sepulveda said. “I can’t believe this happened here.”

In vowing to launch “mass deportations,” President Trump has directed ICE agents to first zero in on migrants and undocumented aliens who have been accused of committing crimes in the U.S.

Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition, an advocacy group that provides services for newly arrived migrants, called Tuesday’s Bronx raids a “publicity blitz.”

“No matter how the Trump administration spins this enforcement, it is not about public safety,” Awawdeh said. “It is about instilling fear in our immigrant communities. At this time, it does not appear that mass raids have been conducted in New York City.”

ICE hasn’t given out any particulars about the detentions but have from time to time put out pictures of the more notorious criminal suspects.

A spokesperson for advocacy group New York Communities for Change said Tuesday’s ICE raids “mark a direct violation of NYC’s sanctuary city status.”

“The use of federal funds to bypass New York’s state law and enforcement structures is yet another example of the Trump Administration’s blatant disregard for local and state law,” the group said. “Kristi Noem is not welcome in our city. Noem and the Trump Administration have no interest in making our communities safer. Instead, they pander to misguided – and dangerous – beliefs about immigrant communities.”

“We are doing this right – doing exactly what President @realDonaldTrump promised the American people – making our streets safe,” Noem wrote on X.

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York division and New York field office for the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives confirmed on X Tuesday they were working with ICE and other federal law enforcement partners on “immigration enforcement efforts” in New York City, including the raids in the Bronx.

Similar raids have been conducted in Chicago, Newark and Maryland. Smaller scale ICE investigations took place in New York City last week, but weren’t publicized by federal agencies.

On Monday, ICE agents made 1,179 arrests across the country and detained 853 immigrants, the agency said.

Current ICE enforcement operations under Trump are similar to those during the Biden administration with one glaring difference: Under Trump, officers can now arrest people without legal status if they run across them while looking for migrants targeted for removal.

Under Joe Biden, such “collateral arrests” were banned.

As the detentions continue, ICE won’t be able to arrest undocumented New Yorkers facing criminal cases in state courthouses without a warrant, local court officials said.