What happened
New York Attorney General Letitia James Wednesday launched a “Federal Action Reporting Portal” and encouraged New Yorkers to upload footage of federal agents conducting a large raid in Manhattan on Tuesday so her office could assess “any violations of law.” Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) said at a press conference Wednesday that ICE had wrongly detained four U.S. citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for “nearly 24 hours” without charges, an act he called “lawless terror.”
Who said what
“No one should be subject to unlawful questioning, detention or intimidation,” James said in a press release. Tuesday’s raid “rattled Manhattan’s Chinatown,” The Guardian said. Nine undocumented immigrants with long “rap sheets” were arrested, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons told Fox News Wednesday, and New York City will see an “increase in ICE arrests” because there are “so many criminal illegal” immigrants there.
“In other cities where the federal government has escalated immigration enforcement, local authorities have complained that federal agents have bent the law and abused civilians,” The New York Times said. In San Francisco, which is bracing for an ICE influx, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) suggested Wednesday that “state and local authorities may arrest federal agents if they break California law.”
What next?
The “ability of states to arrest federal officers is murky,” the Times said. U.C. Berkeley School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky said if “ICE agents are acting legally, the state can’t prosecute them and hold them liable, even if it dislikes what they’re doing,” but if they “act beyond their legal authority, and violate state law in doing so, they can be prosecuted.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Sudoku hard: November 13, 2025The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
-
Codeword: November 13, 2025The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Who were the ‘weekend snipers’ of Sarajevo?Under the Radar Italian authorities launch investigation into allegations far-right gun enthusiasts paid to travel to Bosnian capital and shoot civilians ‘for fun’ during the four-year siege
-
Newsom slams Trump’s climate denial at COP30speed read Trump, who has called climate change a ‘hoax,’ declined to send any officials to this week’s summit
-
UK, Colombia halt intel to US over boat attacksSpeed Read Both countries have suspended intelligence sharing with the US over the bombing of civilian boats suspected of drug smuggling
-
Trump pardons 2020 fake electors, other GOP alliesSpeed Read The president pardoned Rudy Giuliani and more who tried to overturn his 2020 election loss
-
Supreme Court to decide on mail-in ballot limitsSpeed Read The court will determine whether states can count mail-in ballots received after Election Day
-
Democrats split as Senate votes to end shutdownSpeed Read The proposed deal does not extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, the Democrats’ main demand
-
USDA orders states to ‘undo’ full SNAP paymentsSpeed Read The Trump administration is telling states not to pay full November food stamp benefits
-
Senate takes first step to end record shutdownSpeed Read Eight senators in the Democratic caucus voted with Republicans to advance legislation to reopen the government
-
Gregory Bovino: the officer leading Trump’s strong-arm immigration tacticsIn the Spotlight He has been referred to as the Border Patrol’s ‘commander-at-large’
