Federal agents from a host of different law enforcement agencies converged last month on at least three locations in The Bronx, one in Manhattan, and another in Queens in efforts to detain undocumented migrants. The raids came days after Republican U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 22, suspending “the physical entry of aliens engaged in an invasion of the United States through the southern border.” This order had, in turn, followed a prior Jan. 20 executive order authorizing the detention of “unregistered aliens,” among other immigration-related actions.

 

According to posts on the platform, X, by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and newly confirmed U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, various raids took place before dawn on Tuesday, Jan. 28, in New York City. Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HIS), DEA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the U.S. Secret Service and the NYPD’s Special Operations Division entered at least five City locations and took several people into custody.

 

At just after 7 a.m. on Tuesday, DEA New York posted on X, “Happening now, #DEANewYork participated in an operation supporting @DHSgov, along with our @TheJusticeDept & other federal law enforcement partners, with their #immigration enforcement efforts which resulted in the arrest of one for kidnapping, assault & burglary charges.”

Noem joined agents on the raid, later posting on X, “Arresting some criminal aliens this morning in NYC – thank you to the brave officers involved.” According to published media reports citing law enforcement “sources,” agents first raided 1372 Ogden Avenue in the Highbridge section of The Bronx where Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, 25, a suspected leader of the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, was taken into custody.

 

Pacheco is reportedly wanted in Colorado where he faces charges of kidnapping, burglary, and weapons charges. Media outlets also reported that raids were conducted at 660 Rosewood Street in Olinville and at 2075 Creston Avenue in Fordham Heights.

 

Later that day, New York City Mayor Eric Adams posted on X in reference to the raids, “Beforehand, 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, both here in New York and in Aurora, Colorado, including burglary, kidnapping, extortion, firearms possession.”

He added, “As I have repeatedly said, we will not hesitate to partner with federal authorities to bring violent criminals to justice.” Responding to Adams’ X post, the Standing for Freedom Center posted an ad that read, “Like a plot to a dystopian movie, New York will now monitor social media writings, collect data, and use law enforcement to crack down on any expression it deems to be hate speech.”

 

On Friday, Feb. 7, following the issuance of a reported memo by the mayor to all New York City agencies, including, schools and the shelter system, authorizing federal authorities to enter their premises without a judicial warrant if the city worker perceives a threat to their safety or the safety of others, Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of New York Immigration Coalition, issued a statement on the matter. 

“This memo once again makes clear: Mayor Eric Adams does not respect the law,” he said. “It’s one thing for Adams to waffle on his commitment to New York City’s sanctuary policies while cozying up to Trump, it’s entirely another when he sanctions his agency staff and City employees to completely disregard those same local laws when it suits them. While the Trump administration is weaponizing our government and ICE to separate families, Eric Adams is turning his back on immigrant New Yorkers to score points with the Trump administration and pursue his own agenda to end legal challenges on corruption charges.”

 

Awawdeh continued, “This shameful action is turning what should be safe havens for all New York families into potential traps and making New York City complicit in carrying out Trump’s cruel agenda. Adams’ new directive will further force families into the shadows and leave countless New Yorkers vulnerable to detention and deportation simply for accessing basic services. We call on the Adams administration to reverse this dangerous policy immediately and reaffirm that New York remains a true sanctuary for all our communities or face civil litigation.”

 

Trump’s Jan. 22 executive order read, in part, “President Trump has further restricted access to the provisions of the immigration laws that would enable any illegal alien involved in an invasion across the southern border of the United States to remain in the United States, such as asylum.”

 

Speaking through a translator, on Thursday, Jan. 30, a resident of the raided Creston Avenue building told Norwood News, “Criminals should be deported, but law-abiding citizens shouldn’t be taken away.”

 

Former state senator and councilman Ruben Díaz, Sr., a pastor with New York Hispanic Clergy Organization, Inc., who is a staunch Trump supporter who had joined him on stage during Trump’s Bronx rally in Crotona Park on May 23, 2024, also posted on X after the raids, and after it was announced law enforcement were given permission to enter “sensitive locations” amid the raids, such as houses of worship, hospitals and schools.

Díaz began, “I am among the people who strongly supported, supports, and will continue to support the Trump agenda of restoring order.” However, he added, “We strongly believe that churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, or any houses of worship must be respected as sacred ground.” Díaz said he wanted to see Trump “publicly clarify” his executive order.

 

Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres (NY-15), who represents much of The Bronx, stretching from the northwest to the south, also reacted on X, writing, “I strongly favor surgically removing violent criminals, especially gang leaders, from The Bronx. If you are among the activists who want to open your homes and communities to violent gang leaders, you’re more than welcome to roll out the red carpet for them. But we in the Bronx want them gone.”

 

Speaking on ‘PIX on Politics’ on Friday, Jan. 31, Frank Tarentino, special agent in charge of the New York division of the DEA, said, “We are 100% targeting the worst of the worst.” He added, “Maybe there’s other people in that apartment and / or structure that do have immigration issues and in those instances, we will do our job” [as directed under Title 8 immigration laws].

 

The same day, Norwood News sought comment on the matter from the Office of City Councilmember Pierina Sanchez (C.D. 14), who recently gave birth and whose Bronx office is located around the corner from the site of the Creston Avenue raid. On Tuesday, Feb. 4, a staffer replied, “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to meet your deadline.”

Meanwhile, one female, Van Cortlandt Village resident said of the ICE raids, “I just think that these people are being treated very unfairly. As I said, they get up every morning and I take the train to go to work and they sit right next to me. They make contributions to this nation; not everyone is a criminal.”

 

Asked if she knew anyone in danger of deportation, the resident replied, “My sister is one of those people who is afraid because, unfortunately, my sister lost all of her citizenship documents during a move, and it’s taken her so many years to replace just some of those documents. So, I’m concerned that she could be swooped up in all of this.”

 

Several media outlets also reported that a Puerto Rican man who is also a veteran was the target of a raid by ICE officials inside a New Jersey seafood store last month. Meanwhile, one store employee told Norwood News some immigrant workers he knows who live in The Bronx but work in Manhattan are not currently traveling to Manhattan to work for fear of being targeted. Asked how they are surviving without working, he shrugged and said he did not know.

 

Several Bronx Democratic elected officials, as well as Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7) representatives, are encouraging residents who may be fearful of being confronted by ICE officials to know their rights.

 

Some elected officials are sharing information at their constituency offices in different languages. For example, immigrants are being informed that they have the right to remain silent, that they can ask ICE officials for both ID and documentation such as a federal arrest warrant. They are also being informed that if ICE officials enter an immigrant’s home without permission, the immigrant can say, “I do not consent to you being in my home,” and if they start to search the home, the immigrant can say, “I do not consent to your search.”

Immigrants are also being made aware that ICE officials cannot enter private, employee-only sections of a workplace, but can enter public sections, that residents have the right to an interpreter, an attorney, that they do not have to sign documents or answer questions before speaking with a lawyer, and that they can inform ICE officials of medical and / or childcare needs, as appropriate.

 

Norwood News is currently looking into allegations of an ICE raid on a Bx36 bus and at a Bronx homeless shelter and will share any updates we receive.

 

To read more on Bronxites views on the recent ICE raids, check out our latest Inquiring Photographer feature.

 

Click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here for some related stories on this topic.

 

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story. 

 

Editor’s Note: NBC News [and other media groups] reported on May 23, 2024, that Senate Democrats failed to advance a bipartisan border security bill with nearly every Republican voting to filibuster it, even as former U.S. President and then-2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump wielded border chaos as a centerpiece of his campaign against former Democratic U.S. President Joe Biden.

 

According to a White House release dated Feb. 2, based on ICE data, there are over 425,000 non-detained “illegal immigrants with criminal convictions” in the U.S., including 13,099 murderers, 56,533 with drugs charges, and 15,811 convicted of sexual assault.