With the backing of New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul, both Democrats, federal immigration agents swept through the city on Tuesday to arrest accused illegal migrant criminals, Politico reported.
Several hours after the predawn raid started, Adams, said in a statement that the city "will not hesitate to partner with federal authorities to bring violent criminals to justice — just as we have done for years."
The approximately 30 people arrested in the raid were accused illegal-migrant killers and traffickers, according to the New York Post.
Soon after President Donald Trump entered the White House earlier this month, federal immigration agents began arrests and raids to varying degrees in Chicago, Atlanta, and other Democrat-led cities in what ICE has labeled "targeted" operations, Politico reported.
Adams said he "directed the NYPD to coordinate with DHS' Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and other federal law enforcement agencies — as allowed by law — to conduct a targeted operation."
He added that "our commitment to protecting our city's law-abiding residents, both citizens and immigrants, remains unwavering."
NYPD officers were present for the operation as part of an HSI task force carrying out criminal investigations, a police spokesperson said. Sanctuary laws in New York City limit broader local police cooperation with federal immigration officials, according to Politico.
Hochul also announced her approval of the raid.
"I want to be clear, there has always been ICE raids in the state of New York, even in the past, and this is not a new dynamic," she told reporters Tuesday. "My understanding is that they had specific names of people who committed crimes, serious offenders, and those are exactly the people that we want removed from the state of New York."
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson had a starkly different tone at a Tuesday news conference.
"I'm standing with the full force of government today to demonstrate that Chicago is a welcoming city regardless of who's in the White House," Johnson said.