ICE attempts two raids in Sunset Park

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers attempted two raids on undocumented Brooklynites in Sunset Park Saturday, but neither resulted in arrests, according to sources and the commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.

The city has been prepping for potential raids since President Trump and immigration officials hinted that they would be coming to 10 cities across the country. But with media outlets reporting the raids would be occurring Sunday, Brooklyn — as well as East Harlem — was hit early.

“We heard two reports from Sunset Park,” said Bitta Mostofi, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, at a Saturday press conference in Battery Park about the ICE raids. “Eyewitnesses [are] speaking to us about ICE attempts to gain access and entry and conduct arrests. But thankfully, unsuccessfully.”

A spokesperson for MOIA said there may have been other raids already today to which they have not yet been alerted.

Mostofi said that the Sunset Park residents refused to open the door for the officials.

One of the raids reportedly was at the home of a family of seven who did not open the door for the ICE officials, a source told the Brooklyn Eagle.

Brooklyn has the second largest population of undocumented immigrants of New York City’s boroughs, after Queens, according to MOIA.

At the press conference in Battery Park Saturday, Councilmember Carlos Menchaca — who represents Sunset Park and also chairs the City Council’s Immigration Committee — said he received a text message about a raid on 60th Street and Third Avenue in Sunset Park.

ICE would not confirm the enforcement actions that Menchaca and Mostofi spoke about.

“Due to law-enforcement sensitivities and the safety and security of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel, the agency will not offer specific details related to enforcement operations,” said an official with ICE.

“This is a white nationalist move,” Menchaca said at the press conference of the ICE raids. “This is coming from the top of government from a white man. This is a white man saying, ‘Our country needs to be white and it needs to be whiter and we need to remove the people of color,’” Menchaca said.

MOIA is urging anyone who sees ICE in their neighborhood to email [email protected].

Update (6:05 p.m.): This article has been updated to include a quote from an official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.