A federal operation targeting illicit activities in New York City’s Chinatown turned tumultuous on Friday as demonstrators confronted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. The chaotic scene led city officials to clarify that they were not involved in the operation.

Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), explained to Fox News that ICE, alongside federal partners, executed a “targeted, intelligence-driven enforcement operation” on Canal Street, focusing on criminal activities related to the distribution of counterfeit merchandise.

McLaughlin described the situation as escalating when protesters turned aggressive, hurling insults, and obstructing law enforcement tasks by blocking vehicles and attacking officers. “One individual has already been detained for assaulting a federal officer,” she confirmed in an official statement.

During a press briefing on Tuesday evening, Murad Awawdeh, the vice president of advocacy at the New York Immigration Coalition, reported that authorities arrested between 15 and 40 vendors. Additionally, two local residents were apprehended for protesting and hindering the arrest proceedings.

Federal agents carried out an immigration enforcement operation on Canal Street in Chinatown as crowds gathered in protest, Tuesday, in New York. (Jake Offenhartz/AP Photo)

City officials quickly moved to distance themselves from the raid.

Mayor Eric Adams’ press secretary, Kayla Mamelak Altus, told Fox News that New York City “never cooperates with federal law enforcement on civil deportation matters, in accordance with local laws,” and had “no involvement in this matter.”

“Mayor Adams has been clear that undocumented New Yorkers trying to pursue the American Dream should not be the target of law enforcement, and resources should instead be focused on violent criminals,” she said.

City officials said police were monitoring the situation near Canal Street and 26 Federal Plaza but had “matters under control.” However, if circumstances were to escalate and an individual assaults or interferes with a legal law enforcement action, a source said Adams instructed the New York City Police Department (NYPD) to intervene.

The source added there have been numerous multi-agency enforcement actions on Canal Street this year, and any illegal activity should be addressed by the NYPD.

NYPD Strategic Response Group monitors a crowd outside 26 Federal Plaza on Tuesday in New York City.  (Adam Gray/Getty Images)

“We saw what looked like tanks in our streets,” said Jumaane Williams, a New York City public advocate. “We saw people who were armed and in tactical gear for vendors, which was planned. Many of you actually got advance notice that this was going to happen. They were targeting, in this case, Black vendors on Canal Street. That’s what occurred… None of this is about public safety. It is about fear and chaos.”

He added that what gives him hope is that, in a few months, he believes “we are going to have a mayor who actually cares about New Yorkers and who will be here joined with us.”

Federal agents and law enforcement stand outside 26 Federal Plaza on Oct. 21, 2025, in New York City.  (Adam Gray/Getty Images)

Socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani weighed in on X, calling the Manhattan raid “aggressive and reckless.”

“Federal agents from ICE and HSI—some in military fatigues and masks—descended on Chinatown today in an aggressive and reckless raid on immigrant street vendors,” Mamdani wrote in a post. “Once again, the Trump administration chooses authoritarian theatrics that create fear, not safety. It must stop.”

Mamdani’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for further comment.

“Let’s be clear, street vendors are not a national security threat,” said New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. “They are not a national security threat… There is no excuse for sending military style vehicles and a national law enforcement response for street vendors, whether they were sourced from social media or otherwise.”

DHS said it will release additional details about the criminals arrested as soon as they become available.

ICE did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.