New York
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Dozens of people in New York gathered at a government building Saturday in a standoff against agents from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. Videos circulating on social media showed protesters clashing with the local New York Police Department (NYPD) upon learning of plans by the ICE agents to capture and round up migrants in the area.

On Saturday, approximately 150 protesters assembled around a government building in lower Manhattan and engaged in a standoff against the NYPD. The protesters gathered upon learning that ICE agents were in the area to conduct another round-up of immigrants. Barricades were enforced by the NYPD as the standoff between protesters, the police, and ICE agents took place.

Videos of the Protests Circulate Online

Police sources said that at least two protesters were arrested as of 1 p.m. local time, but the number later moved up to 10 protesters. Some videos showed ICE agents surrounded by protesters at Centre Street and Howard, while protesters also made calls for more people to join. The demonstrators persisted in trying to block the ICE agents from carrying out round-ups while also chanting 'ICE out of New York!' in another video of the protests near Canal Street.

Apart from the chants, some protesters yelled 'you are corrupt!' while one asked an ICE agent, 'Is this what you want? Tearing America apart?'

The ICE agents called in the local authorities for assistance to detain and push back the protesters whilst they blocked the pavement and garage entrance at Canal Street, where their operation was to take place. As the protests happened, some police officers pepper-sprayed several protesters who were trying to follow the ICE motorcade and were throwing items at the vehicles.

Tensions High After Previous Raid

The protesters were reportedly alerted to the Canal Street operation after a similar incident a month prior, when ICE agents were in the same area targeting allegedly illegal street vendors. During the October operation, ICE agents detained around nine allegedly undocumented migrants amongst the vendors. Protesters gathered and followed the agents down to 26 Federal Plaza, where the ICE Manhattan Detention and Processing Center is located.

The crowds organised a larger protest there.

'ICE, they do what they want to do. They target our community,' vendor Bobbie Baro told New York Daily News. 'They asked random people for ID – they didn't have it, and they took them down.'

ICE Previously Pledged More Arrests in New York

Last month, ICE pledged that more arrests and raids will be conducted by its agents in New York. Acting ICE director Todd Lyons appeared to double down on the raids following the arrests of the vendors.

'You will see an increase in ICE arrests because there have been so many criminal illegal aliens that have been released in New York specifically,' Lyons told Fox News at the time. 'You will see us making those criminal arrests to make New York safe again. It's definitely intelligence-driven, it's not random.'

'We aren't pulling people off the street,' Lyons continued. 'There was a specific reason based on criminal intelligence and criminal activity that we showed up on Canal Street.'

In response, New York Attorney General Letitia James has since launched a review into the ICE operation. James called on witnesses to submit video and photos of the raid to a portal.

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