Inside ICE's high-stakes raids targeting illegal migrants in NYC as chief rips sanctuary laws
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — With New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani escalating his opposition to ICE, federal agents continue to carry out high-stakes street arrests that one of the agency's top officials says could be avoided if the city cooperated with federal authorities instead of enforcing its sanctuary policies.
Fox News Digital embedded with ICE agents last Thursday, getting a rare, firsthand look at the surveillance, tense stakeouts and split-second decisions behind arrests on Brooklyn streets — while riding along with the agency's top local enforcement official as he blasted city and state leaders over policies he says put officers and the public at risk.
The early-morning operation saw agents move in on two men, handcuffing them and rushing them into unmarked SUVs. The first arrest was over in seconds. The second turned into a tense struggle.
Behind the wheel was Ken Genalo, head of ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in New York City, who accused Mamdani, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the City Council of keeping dangerous offenders on the streets.
"100% all of this is about politics. It is not about public safety," Genalo said as he sat in his vehicle while his team staked out a Georgian illegal migrant charged with sexual abuse.
He argued that sanctuary laws force ICE to track down suspects who should have been handed over to agents at local jails. Instead, agents have to try and apprehend migrants on city streets.
"They don't acknowledge the victims, they don't acknowledge the angel families, those that unfortunately have suffered severe loss due to illegal alien crime," he said.
The operation came less than a week after Mamdani released a Spanish-language video advising New Yorkers on how to respond to ICE agents, as tensions flared following the shooting of a Dominican migrant who authorities say tried to ram officers with his vehicle. The migrant had been in the U.S. for just three years but had already racked up a lengthy rap sheet for theft, robbery, assault, drug and weapons offenses, according to DHS.
The Brooklyn arrests came amid a wider enforcement push, with ICE arresting nearly 2,200 illegal migrants during a statewide crackdown in August, known as Operation Rotten Apple.
But the ride-along with ICE revealed what those figures cannot: hours of painstaking surveillance, careful planning and tense waiting — all for arrests that can be over in seconds and quickly escalate.
Before dawn Thursday, more than a dozen armed ICE agents gathered at a secret Brooklyn location, wearing protective vests marked "ERO."
Commanders briefed them on several targets and the potential risks: one might be armed, another was an amateur boxer. The stark warnings offered a glimpse into the dangers agents face as they head onto the streets to carry out arrests.
Agents checked their gear, attached body cameras to their vests and hit the streets around 5:50 a.m.
Genalo drove an unmarked SUV, monitoring radio chatter and explaining how agents tracked their targets, what could go wrong and why timing was critical.
The first target was Nika Tkeshelashvili, 40, a Georgian national who ICE said entered the United States illegally through the southern border in January 2023 and was arrested in September on a first-degree sexual abuse charge. The charge remains pending.
His next immigration court hearing wasn't until October 2028 — a five-year wait that drew disbelief from Genalo.
As the SUV rolled through Brooklyn, Genalo explained how agents establish a "pattern of life" — studying a suspect's routine to determine when and where to make an arrest.
In Tkeshelashvili's case, the intelligence was surprisingly mundane. Agents believed he regularly emerged between 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. to move his car and avoid a parking ticket.
Unmarked ICE vehicles took up positions along nearby streets while Fox News Digital waited with Genalo roughly half a block away, with a clear view of the apartment building where the Georgian national was expected to emerge.
But as the minutes ticked by, he was nowhere to be seen. Genalo remained unfazed.
Meanwhile, daylight crept across the neighborhood, bringing commuters, schoolchildren and growing traffic. Genalo explained that darkness was an ally during these operations, but as the streets filled, a discreet arrest became harder.
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Even weeks of surveillance could not guarantee Tkeshelashvili would appear, Genalo explained. If he stayed inside, agents might have to return another day.
Then, at 7:57 a.m., a voice broke over the radio.
"Target one just stepped out with a cigarette going towards the car if I'm not mistaken," an agent reported.
Genalo raised his hand and pointed toward the radio. "I think that's ours," he said as more chatter crackled through the SUV.
"He's wearing a black vest, red shirt, red hat," another agent radioed.
"Team two, that's Tango. That's Tango," an agent called out.
Within moments, agents converged on Tkeshelashvili in the middle of the street. Genalo accelerated toward the scene, the arrest unfolding through the SUV's windshield.
By the time Fox News Digital pulled up, officers had already handcuffed Tkeshelashvili and were moving him into a waiting vehicle. He remained calm and said little. Within moments, the team was moving on toward Target 2.
Genalo hailed the arrest as "textbook" and "flawless," praising the intelligence, timing and surprise that allowed agents to secure their target without a struggle.
Speed, he explained, was critical.
Minutes earlier, we heard over Genalo’s radio that another ICE team had encountered agitators blowing whistles, shouting and warning locals that federal agents were nearby.
The team was pursuing an Ecuadorian migrant who faced sexual misconduct charges involving a child, Genalo said, but the agitators disrupted the operation.
"Why would you protest that we're trying to arrest this individual?" Genalo said.
As we pulled away from the first arrest scene, Genalo briefed us on the next target: Yves Frantz Augustine, 45, a Haitian national who ICE said entered the U.S. legally in 1997 but overstayed his visa. Ordered deported in 2006, he remained in the country, later amassing a criminal record that included an assault conviction for which he served seven years in prison, along with weapons offenses and a terroristic threat case, according to ICE.
Augustine previously served seven years in prison for assault, but ICE's attempt to deport him in 2011 during the Obama administration failed because Haiti would not issue the necessary travel documents, Genalo said.
ICE tried to take him into custody after further arrests, but New York authorities refused to hand him over despite three detainer requests, according to Genalo.
Agents faced a major concern during this operation: Augustine was taking a child to school.
Genalo explained that agents would wait until Augustine drops off the child before moving in, saying ICE policy is to avoid making arrests near schools or in the presence of children.
Another team of agents was tracking Augustine from cars and on foot, relaying updates over the radio as Brooklyn's morning rush gathered pace.
Genalo pulled up alongside the curb, explaining that Augustine was expected to walk straight toward our SUV. We waited as traffic rolled past and officers closed in on his position.
At approximately 8:26 a.m., the go-ahead came over the radio.
Agents quickly surrounded Augustine just ahead of our SUV, grabbing his arms as they tried to handcuff him.
"Don't move! Police! Let me see your hands!" an officer shouted, drawing his weapon.
"We have a warrant for your arrest!" another announced.
But Augustine refused to put his hands behind his back, prompting the agents to press him against the metal shutters of a closed storefront as they struggled to cuff him.
"No, no, no, no," Augustine shouted.
"Sir, don't fight," an officer warned, while a third appeared and tried to calm him.
"Just put your hands behind your back, sir," the third agent said, placing his hand on his shoulder.
As agents led Augustine away in handcuffs, his jacket slipped down, revealing the words "it's all a trap" emblazoned across the back of his shirt. The front read "NOCOMP."
He continued pulling back as agents moved him toward a waiting SUV, pleading for his children.
"Think about my kids," he cried out, according to footage recorded by Fox News Digital.
Appearing stunned, he continued questioning the arrest.
"A warrant for what?" he shouted and asked to call his wife before claiming he was now a U.S. citizen. An officer showed him the warrant and gave him time to read it before placing him in the SUV.
Genalo disputed the citizenship claim, citing Augustine's 2006 deportation order.
The arrest took roughly four minutes, far longer than the first, before agents secured Augustine and cleared the street.
Back in the SUV, Genalo said Augustine's resistance forced officers to use additional restraint techniques, explaining that agents typically move detainees to a secure location before transferring them to an ICE processing facility.
"We want to get in, make the arrest, and get out as fast as possible," Genalo said.
He also rejected accusations that ICE agents abduct or disappear people, defending the speed of the arrests as a safety precaution.
"We don't kidnap people, we don't disappear people. We arrest people," he said.
For Genalo, the arrests reflected a wider battle over law and order — with ICE trying to remove dangerous offenders while city leaders refuse to cooperate and protesters work to disrupt operations.
"You have murderers on the street. I mean, that by itself is absolutely amazing that you can say you're keeping the community safe by releasing murderers back on the streets," he said.
Genalo said both Brooklyn suspects had previously been in local custody, but authorities ignored ICE requests to hand them over. The refusals, he argued, wasted taxpayer money and put officers, suspects and the public at risk.
During the stakeout for Tkeshelashvili, agents feared their cover was blown when an NYPD patrol car appeared, adding another hurdle amid limited cooperation with local police. Genalo suggested a resident may have called police, but the concern was quickly resolved.
Genalo laid much of the blame on Mamdani, Hochul and the City Council, accusing them of putting political ideology ahead of public safety while allowing offenders to return to the communities they claim to protect.
"They're criminals that committed heinous crimes. And they should not be in the community," Genalo said of many of the migrants ICE has been apprehending.
For Genalo, a Brooklyn native and 34-year law enforcement veteran deployed to Ground Zero with a special response team after 9/11, the breakdown in cooperation is personal. He recalled when ICE worked closely with local police and had its own unit at Rikers Island, taking more than 100 people a week into custody directly from the jail. Today there is no cooperation.
Genalo blamed former Mayor Bill de Blasio for ending the arrangement and said former Mayor Eric Adams tried to restore cooperation but was hamstrung by the City Council. Mamdani, meanwhile, has called for ICE to be abolished and publicly opposed its enforcement operations.
Genalo repeatedly fumed over New York City's sanctuary policies throughout the ride-along, challenging city leaders to put the issue on the ballot and let New Yorkers decide whether police should cooperate with ICE.
"Let the residents decide," he said.
A bipartisan push for a public vote in 2024 and 2025 went nowhere. Genalo suggested council members feared the result.
Genalo also criticized anti-ICE protest networks that monitor federal vehicles, alert residents and mobilize protesters when officers are spotted.
Even before Thursday's operation began, a car carrying civilians circled the agents' secret meeting point and parked nearby, raising suspicions that its occupants might be spotters. Officers kept watch until the car drove away.
"I give a lot of kudos to the men and women of ICE in New York City and nationwide staying professional in spite of the agitation that they're facing," he said.
Despite his blistering criticism of Mamdani and the city's sanctuary policies, Genalo said he was willing to talk with the mayor.
"I just wish we could sit down and collaborate and come to an agreement because we have the same job to do, and that's to keep the people of the community of New York City safe," Genalo said.
"The men and women of ICE in New York City will not waver," he said.