ICE Conducts Major Canal Street Operation Detaining Multiple Vendors in NYC Chinatown

Federal agents from ICE and Homeland Security Investigations carried out a surprise mid‑afternoon raid on Canal Street in Manhattan’s Chinatown on Oct. 21, detaining several people suspected of illegal street vending. Dozens of agents in marked vests — with other law‑enforcement personnel reported embedded — shut down multiple blocks between Lafayette/Center/Church and Walker streets and loaded detainees into unmarked vans. Reports vary on how many were taken into custody (outlets reported roughly four to seven), with others questioned and released after showing ID, and two initially detained later saying they are U.S. citizens. The operation produced chaotic scenes as vendors fled, witnesses filmed pushing, shoving and some being tackled, agents deployed batons and shields, and bystanders followed officers to Federal Plaza where a growing crowd protested. City officials and immigrant advocates condemned the action as federal overreach, the NYPD said it had no involvement, and ICE/DHS had not immediately provided detailed comment. The raid — captured on video and still unfolding in reports — comes amid heightened national tensions over immigration enforcement and remains a developing story.