Top NYPD brass were pressed Wednesday about the department’s partnership with ICE a day after the federal agency, at President Trump’s direction, conducted raids in the Bronx that led to 20 reported arrests.
On Jan. 28, New Yorkers woke up to the news that ICE had come to the Big Apple in a sensational way, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in town for the Bronx raids, posting a video to X in which she called those arrested “criminal aliens” and “dirtbags.”
Mayor Eric Adams released a statement later on Tuesday confirming that he directed the NYPD to coordinate with “Homeland Security and other federal law enforcement agencies, as allowed by law, to conduct a targeted operation,” leading to the arrest of alleged Venezuelan gang member Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco.
During an unrelated press conference in Queens on Jan. 29, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch was peppered with questions regarding the NYPD’s partnership with the feds, which revealed that local cops only assisted with the cuffing of Zambrano-Pacheco and none of the other takedowns.
“On the Bronx case, we have members of the NYPD assigned as TFOs [task force officers] as part of an HSI Task Force, and yesterday, they participated in executing an arrest warrant in the Bronx as I described,” Tisch said.
Police say Homeland Security initiated the investigation into Zambrano-Pacheco but that NYPD assisted with the operation after a Colorado judge signed an arrest warrant for a gang member.
Still, despite those arrested allegedly being hardened criminals, the lack of transparency from the federal government regarding details of who the arrestees are as they are led out of their homes under the cover of darkness has migrant families worried about their loved ones. According to published reports, some parents are too afraid to take their children to school out of fear of ICE.
When quizzed on the fears of the community, NYPD Chief of Detective Joseph Kenny pushed back, charging that the department is not coming after them unless they committed a crime.
“We are being painfully clear on our intentions and our participation in these operations. We, the NYPD, are not participating in any civil enforcement of immigration laws. What we are participating in is investigations and operations involving criminals,” Kenny said. ”If you’re a migrant in New York City, you can go about your life no problem, but the minute you break the law, you become a criminal — then you become our problem.”
Tisch backed up this sentiment.
“I want to be very clear that nothing about this department’s posture has changed in the past week. The mayor has been very clear that we are going to go after criminals regardless of immigration status,” Tisch said.
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