Queens Residents Concerned as ICE Targets the Bronx and Chicago in Recent Arrests

Immigration advocacy groups and officials in the city and in Queens are on edge this week as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids have made their way to the five boroughs.

President Donald Trump’s recently confirmed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joined immigration enforcement officials in the Highbridge neighborhood in the Bronx on Tuesday, making a handful of arrests, including one of a reputed gang member.

“Arresting some criminal aliens this morning in NYC,” Noem said on social media following the arrests.

While the action was targeted, it comes after Trump vowed to overhaul the country’s deportation and immigration enforcement efforts. The policy change has led to large-scale sweeps in other Democrat-led sanctuary cities like Chicago.

With federal immigration agents in New York City, and the mayor out of commission with an unknown medical issue, Queens officials and immigration advocates said they were on alert on Tuesday and doing what they could to prepare locals for potential ICE raids and sweeps in the World’s Borough.

Most of the fear and anxiety in the borough stemmed from Queens’ diverse and immigrant-heavy communities in Corona and Jackson Heights, where increased policing has already had locals on edge.

“We know there’s a lot of fear and uncertainty right now,” local Councilmember Shekar Krishnan said in an email blast on Tuesday. “You’re not alone, and you have rights. New York City and the State government have clear protections for immigrants. Our office is quickly working to respond to any concerns our community has, and we’ve put together some resources and events for our community to stay informed.”

In the email, Krishnan laid out a list of tips should someone encounter ICE in their community.

Queens residents should not run from law enforcement, and should not feel obligated to show ID without a warrant, the message said.

“We felt it was important to send around the guidance that we did so immigrants know the rights they have and who’s there to help them,” Krishnan told the Eagle over the phone. “In this situation, information and knowledge is crucial, and it’s one of our best defense mechanisms against bigotry and against the fear and a lot of the Trump administration is causing.”

Krishnan said that the fear of increased ICE enforcement in Queens has already led some locals to drastically change their daily lives.

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“In our immigrant communities, people are afraid to go on the streets, to go to their jobs, to get access to health care, to go to their schools and leave their children,” he said. “What we have heard is not only an immense amount of bigotry, but also this real horrific posture from the Trump administration to remove protections from sensitive locations, like schools and houses of worship too, which means that not only are people afraid to go to those places, but also those very organizations themselves are also afraid of what may happen.”

But not everyone in Western Queens is hoping ICE stays out of the borough.

District Leader Hiram Monserrate recently wrote a letter to the Trump administration calling for increased federal presence in two locations nearby the often troubled Roosevelt Avenue.

In a phone call with the Eagle on Tuesday, Monserrate clarified that the letter was merely to address crime in Corona.

“What other recourse does the community have in dealing with this kind of problematic population that clearly is engaging in criminal activity, clearly violating city and state laws?” he said. “It appears that both the city and state are impotent in dealing with this.”

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Monserrate, who was strongly in favor of Mayor Eric Adams’ “Operation Restore Roosevelt,” which increased policing along the strip.

However, Monserrate stopped short of supporting large-scale immigration sweeps in the majority-immigrant corridor.

“I called for an investigation,” he said. “There’s a very big difference between opening up and starting an investigation. No way, shape or form did me or anyone else associated with what we are doing calling for raids. We don’t support raids. We don’t support massive raids and deportations. That’s not what we stand for.”

However, advocates say calling for the federal government to investigate the area could make Roosevelt Avenue a target for raids.

Make the Road New York, one of the city’s largest immigration advocacy groups that operates near Roosevelt declined to comment for this story, but has told the Eagle in recent weeks that fear among immigrant communities in the borough has been on the rise.

“Back in 2017 we did a lot of outreach…[and] we saw that a lot of the community was scared, and we’re starting to see a lot of that resurface again,” said Luba Cortes, the immigration lead organizer at Make the Road New York who oversees work in Queens and the other boroughs.

Make the Road and other groups have been doing additional “know your rights” training and other advocacy work to help protect and inform both documented and undocumented migrants.

The Legal Aid Society announced a new “know your rights hub” on Tuesday in direct response to the Bronx raids.

The programming features a series of resources to help people navigate immigration issues, and provides information on advanced family planning for non-citizen parents, ICE arrests and detention, the federal harboring law and more.

As part of the effort, Legal Aid is also launching in-person monthly information sessions and roundtable discussions on immigration and other legal issues.

“In this moment, it is critical that all New Yorkers know their rights and are as prepared as possible,” said Attorney-in-Charge of the Immigration Law Unit at The Legal Aid Society

Deborah Lee. “We are proud to launch these Know Your Rights materials and convenings to support the people we serve, communities, and fellow advocates navigating new anti-immigrant

policies and laws.”

Other groups and officials also condemned the Trump administration immigration mandates as they appeared to make their way closer to Queens on Tuesday.

“No one disagrees with enforcement against an undocumented individual who has received their due process and been convicted of a violent crime,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards. “But as Donald Trump’s own press secretary said today, his administration views the hardened gang member and the hard-working single mother the same way – equally valued targets of what the president proudly says will be a vicious and inhumane effort to tear millions of families apart through deportation.”

“With this grave threat to The World’s Borough at our doorstep, we need our city, state and legal community partners to make massive investments in Know Your Rights training, free legal services and more to safeguard our immigrant communities,” the BP added. “My office’s Immigrant Welcome Center remains ready to assist anyone who needs it and our work will continue uninterrupted for as long as this threat remains.”

The New York Working Families Party and New York Communities for Change also condemned the actions.

“Today’s ICE raids, led by Secretary Noem, mark a direct violation of NYC’s Sanctuary City status,” NYCC said. “The use of federal funds to bypass New York’s state law and enforcement structures is yet another example of the Trump administration’s blatant disregard for local and state law.”

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