Has ICE’s New York Surge Begun? Masked Agents Caught on Camera Across City Stopping People, Attacking Protesters With Pepper Spray

Has the ICE enforcement surge, that Trump’s border czar Tom Homan threatened, started? Some New York immigration activists fear it has.

On Thursday and Friday, an influx of ICE agents was spotted throughout the five boroughs and on Long Island, marking an unusual rise in reported sightings. Videos quickly made the rounds on social media of ICE agents on New York City streets — wearing body armor and masks, in violation of state law — stopping people targeted for detention, and confronting those recording and/or protesting their presence.

On July 30, masked agents were seen in Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn in larger groups than had previously been reported.

In Bushwick, Brooklyn, several masked agents were seen questioning a family in a minivan and checking their passports, including that of a young child. The family was not reportedly detained.

That same day, ICE agents were also spotted in East Elmhurst and Inwood. On Seaman and Isham Avenues in Inwood, a disturbing encounter was caught on camera that appeared to show a masked federal agent approaching a woman who was filming them on her cellphone while holding what appeared to be a canister of military-grade pepper spray.

The agent then sprayed her in the face, according to the video, with no apparent justification.

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