As Bronxites remain on edge amid news of ongoing deportations, including those of some on working visas, ICE officials now confirm that an “alien” with a criminal record was arrested at gunpoint in the Bedford Park section of The Bronx on Tuesday afternoon, April 15. When asked, an NYPD spokesperson said the department had no arrest on file for the location in question.

 

The attached photos show armed law enforcement authorities at 2914 Jerome Avenue between Minerva Place and East 199th Street at around 3 p.m. on Tuesday. Dressed in plain clothes but wearing bulletproof vests displaying the words “Police” and “ERO,” some were also wearing black face bandanas.

 

In the context of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), ERO stands for Enforcement and Removal Operations. What looked like machine guns were pointed at the head of the man, seen lying face down on the street with his hands behind his back at one point, while agents surrounded him. He appeared to plead with them raising his arms at one point as if to protect himself / his head.

 

An eyewitness told Norwood News that as the man exited the building located at 2914 Jerome Avenue, they approached him and seemingly instructed him to raise his arms and to get on the ground, which he did. He was then seen getting handcuffed, was put on his feet, and was seen walking away with the agents.

 

The witness did not see what happened after that and did not see if he was placed in a vehicle or not. The witness also said that the agents arrived at the scene in unmarked vehicles, double-parked, and were later seen without their bulletproof vests and without any firearms entering the building and going upstairs.

When Norwood News contacted the NYPD late on Tuesday for more information about the incident, we were informed that the department had no arrest on file for the address provided. We shared the attached photos and asked if the man seen in the photos had therefore been released. We did not receive an immediate response.

 

We also reached out to ICE on Tuesday evening and checked for any related press releases but didn’t find any. We sent a request to the press office and asked if the man seen on the ground had been taken into custody, if he could be identified, if he had a criminal record and if so, what the charges were, if he’s in custody and if so, where; and finally, what the next actions are in relation to his status. On Thursday, April 17, we received the following response.

 

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted a daily routine enforcement operation in The Bronx April 15 to arrest a targeted alien, with an extensive criminal background, for violating our nation’s immigration laws. During all law enforcement actions, ICE New York City utilizes enforcement resources based on intelligence-driven leads and does not target persons indiscriminately.”

 

It continued, “ICE New York City also arrests aliens who threaten public safety and commit crimes that harm innocent Americans who live in our communities. Criminal behavior represents a public threat that undermines our safety and security. ICE recognizes the importance of addressing unlawful actions with the full force of the law, ensuring that individuals are held accountable for their actions. We are committed to creating safe and thriving communities by supporting effective and fair law enforcement practices.”

 

We also reached out to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York to ask if it has any information about the incident and will share any updates we receive. We also attempted to reach the property owner but were unsuccessful. We did manage to speak to the building super who said, “I didn’t know the guy.” He said he did not witness the incident himself. We asked if the building had surveillance cameras and he said, “No.”

 

On the same day, the NYC Council sued the Adams administration in order to block Executive Order 50 signed by First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro on April 8. The order invites ICE and other federal officials to operate an office on Rikers Island to investigate criminal activity.

 

City council members said the order pertains to the City’s Sanctuary City laws [Local Law 58 of 2014] which prevent ICE officials from maintaining an office on Rikers Island. They said the council recently authorized Speaker Adrienne Adams to take legal action to defend against the violation of said Sanctuary Laws.

 

The lawsuit contends that Mastro’s order is “unlawful” and tainted by an alleged conflict of interest. The council members made reference to “the corrupt bargain the mayor entered into [with the Trump administration],” citing the mayor’s personal freedom in exchange for a Rikers Island ICE office. As reported, in February, federal prosecutors hit several New York politicians with a lawsuit over alleged ICE raid tip offs, but spared New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

On April 2, the mayor addressed New Yorkers following news that Judge Dale E. Ho of the Federal District Court in Manhattan, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), had dismissed “with prejudice” [definitively] the bribery and corruption charges brought against him in September 2024, following a November 2023 federal probe into the campaign finances relating to his 2021 mayoral election campaign.

 

The mayor had and has consistently maintained his innocence. His critics maintain the mayor is, by law, unable to avoid the alleged conflict by delegating his authority pertaining to the ICE office to Mastro. The council members said the lawsuit outlines how the ICE office would “undermine public safety in New York City by eroding trust between local government, including local law enforcement, and New Yorkers.” They said it also argues that the mayor [allegedly] never delegated the specified duty [relating to the invitation to open the office] to Mastro, as required by the City Charter.

 

The Council’s legal filing in the form of a petition and memo can be read here. “Once again, this City Council is standing firm to protect the rights and safety of all New Yorkers against attacks by the Trump administration, because the city’s mayor won’t stop placing his own personal interests ahead of the people of our city,” said the council speaker, who is also running for mayor.

 

“Mayor Eric Adams clearly indicated his intention for this executive order when the Trump administration attempted to dismiss his corruption case in what prosecutors and Judge Ho saw as a quid pro quo,” she said. “The mayor has compromised our city’s sovereignty and is now threatening the safety of all New Yorkers, which is why we are filing this lawsuit to halt his illegal order that he shamelessly previewed on the Fox News couch with Tom Homan [the Trump administration’s ‘border czar’].”

 

The speaker alleged that [under the Trump administration], New Yorkers are afraid of cooperating with the city’s police, are discouraged from reporting crime and seeking help, and that this makes everyone in the city less safe. “This is a naked attempt by Eric Adams to fulfill his end of the bargain for special treatment he received from the Trump administration,” she said. “New York cannot afford its mayor colluding with the Trump administration to violate the law, and this lawsuit looks to the court to uphold the basic standard of democracy, even if our mayor won’t.”

The council alleges that on the same day the DOJ dismissed definitively the charges against the mayor, he met with Homan and expressed his intention to invite ICE onto Rikers via executive order. As reported, several top federal prosecutors resigned amid the expected dropping of the charges against the mayor. The council said that Ho, who reportedly declined to immediately dismiss the case, sought independent arguments and indicated that “everything here smacks of a bargain: dismissal of the indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions.”

 

The Council also alleges that neither the mayor nor Mastro have claimed the mayor was walled off from the decision-making process about Rikers and that “to the contrary, when asked, the mayor explicitly denied that he was ‘recused’ from the decision.”

 

An excerpt from the petition reads in part, “To assume, then, that federal agents from these [federal] agencies would limit themselves to criminal investigatory work if permitted on Rikers is willfully blind. Even if the Mayor and Mastro intend for ICE to limit its activities on Rikers to criminal enforcement, as permitted under the City’s sanctuary laws, once ICE re-establishes a presence on the island, there is no reason to believe it will not use the opportunity to supercharge President Trump’s mass deportation agenda.”

 

It continues, “Numerous experts have noted that the Mastro Executive Order gives ICE all of the tools it needs to carry out its civil deportation agenda. For example, Executive Order 50 contemplates the [Department of Correction] DOC intelligence bureau partnering with the federal government to coordinate investigations and share information, but once information is shared, it cannot be un-learned, the bell cannot be unrung, and federal agents will be able to use that information beyond its intended purpose, including for civil immigration enforcement.”

 

The National Immigration Law Center previously wrote about how ICE  blurs the line between enforcement of civil immigration violations and enforcement of criminal laws.

Meanwhile, an excerpt from the filed petition reads in part, “Furthermore, ICE has long been notorious for sweeping unintended targets into its enforcement activities, meaning that allowing ICE back onto Rikers for the purpose of criminal investigation [..] is only a short and slippery slope to civil immigration enforcement.”

 

It continues, “In fact, ICE routinely arrests immigrants who simply happen to be in the vicinity of its intended target, despite lacking a warrant or even probable cause with respect to those ‘collateral’ arrestees. And it continues to do so in violation of a federal court order that limited this practice in 2022 but which it has flagrantly disregarded.”

 

It continues, “Indiscriminate removals harm more than just those who are deported, as immigrant New Yorkers account for roughly 38% of our city’s total population and often have a U.S. citizen spouse or children. And once ICE gets started, courts and City officials will be largely powerless to stop these harms from cascading. The impacts will not be confined to Rikers: enabling ICE to pursue its aggressive immigration on Rikers, [they] will irreparably erode the trust between local government and the New York residents that it serves.”

 

On Wednesday, April 16, federal prosecutors announced that Ghislaine Barrientos, 37, of Mount Vernon, NY, a former corrections officer, was sentenced to six months in prison, to be followed by six months of home detention, for her participation in a scheme to accept bribes in exchange for smuggling narcotics and other contraband into Rikers Island jail. She had previously pleaded guilty to the charge, as reported.

 

Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky said Barrientos received more than $10,000 in bribes. “Barrientos not only abused her position of public trust as a corrections officer, she made Rikers Island less safe for inmates and officers alike,” he said in part.

 

In January, federal agents converged 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 the president 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.

 

Norwood News readers previously weighed in with their thoughts on the initial ICE raids carried out under the Trump administration. We’ve reached out to City Hall for comment on the lawsuit. Press Secretary Kayla Mamelak Altus alleged the Council appeared to be spreading misinformation, and said in part that the mayor “delegated all powers, responsibilities, and decision-making related to any action authorizing federal officials to investigate crimes at Rikers Island to First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro.”

 

She said Mastro conducted a thorough and independent assessment, which included multiple visits to Rikers Island, conversations with federal law enforcement, the City’s own Department of Correction officers, and more. She said he independently concluded that a federal presence at Rikers is in the City’s best interest and protects public safety, particularly in ongoing efforts to target violent transnational gangs now present in the city, including those designated as terrorist organizations.

 

“Cooperation with federal law enforcement, including the FBI, DEA, ATF, Homeland Security, and U.S. Postal Inspectors, will be expressly limited to criminal law enforcement investigations, not civil matters,” she said. “Executive Order 50 is expressly authorized by New York City’s local laws, the very laws enacted by the City Council. While we will review the lawsuit, this one seems baseless and contrary to the public interest in protecting New Yorkers from violent criminals. We remain committed to our administration’s efforts to reduce crime and keep New Yorkers safe — we hope the City Council will join us in doing so.”

 

We were further informed by City Hall that the City Council realizes the executive order, on its face, is consistent with local law and therefore, is, in City Hall’s view, engaging in speculation and surmise, which, according to City Hall, is not a proper basis for any lawsuit.

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 learn and know their rights. Many local elected officials have palm cards and other documents available in different languages at their offices to assist immigrants in this regard.

 

On Thursday, April 3, the mayor announced he had dropped out of the upcoming Democratic mayoral primary and is now running as an independent, as reported by Politico.

 

On Wednesday, April 16, at 6:30 p.m., the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) will host a non-partisan Mayoral Candidate Forum on Immigrant NYC, bringing together leading candidates to discuss their vision for immigrant communities ahead of the 2025 mayoral election. The event will be held at CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, 25 West 43rd Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10036 and is open to the public both in-person and via livestream at this link with Spanish and Chinese interpretation available in-person, and Spanish interpretation via livestream.

 

Livestream Webinar ID: 889 0345 5122; Passcode: power). Doors open at 6 p.m. Registration required here. Seating is limited, otherwise standing room only.

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

 

Editor’s Note: NBC News 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 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.