NEW YORK − Federal agents on Oct. 21 raided several busy lower Manhattan streets in an immigration enforcement operation targeting street vendors.
Video by local news outlets showed masked agents on foot and cuffing people in the afternoon along Canal Street, a popular tourist hub in the Chinatown neighborhood. It’s unclear how many people were taken into custody.
Protests ensued in the area. Traffic halted as agents took people into custody while bystanders recorded events on their phones.
Video obtained by USA TODAY showed an armored Department of Homeland Security vehicle driving down Lafayette Street, from the direction of Canal, toward a Manhattan federal building, which houses immigration court and an Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding area. Protesters are seen screaming at marching agents as they shove people out of the way to make way for the vehicle.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS, said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agencies conducted a “targeted, intelligence-driven operation on Canal Street” that “focused on criminal activity relating to selling counterfeit goods.” 
Canal Street is a common area where people sell clothing, accessories and food on heavily congested sidewalks.
Agencies also included FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, IRS Criminal Investigations and Customs and Border Protection, she said.
“During this law enforcement operation, rioters who were shouting obscenities, became violent and obstructed law enforcement duties including blocking vehicles and assaulting law enforcement,” McLaughlin said in a statement.
At least one person was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a federal officer, she said, adding more details would soon be available on people arrested.
Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, said he saw agents initially detaining African vendors on the street and putting them in unmarked vehicles. Agents refused to answer questions about who was being taken into custody, or whether agents had judicial warrants to arrest them, Awawdeh said.
Then, as advocates and bystanders began gathering, dozens of agents swarmed the area along with the military vehicle, he said. Agents used batons and mace on demonstrators.
“If they’re trying to give us a warning shot, New Yorkers are ready to fight for one another, and peacefully fight for one another,” Awawdeh told USA TODAY in a phone call from the scene. “We’re going to fight for our democracy, because that’s what this is coming down to.”
New York City police said on social media it had no involvement in the federal operation. Mayor Eric Adams said New York City doesn’t cooperate with federal law enforcement on civil deportations, in accordance with local laws, which are commonly called sanctuary policies.
“Our administration has been clear that undocumented New Yorkers trying to pursue their American Dreams should not be the target of law enforcement, and resources should instead be focused on violent criminals,” he said on social media.
In January, ICE conducted highly publicized raids in New York City. Agents have also detained people attending immigration court hearings or ICE check-ins in lower Manhattan.
On social media, Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said President Donald Trump claims he was “targeting the worst of the worst.” Instead, she said, agents used “batons and pepper spray on street vendors and bystanders on Canal Street.”
Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@usatoday.com or on Signal at emcuevas.01.

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