ICE spotted making arrests near Woodside playground, angering officials
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Queens elected officials said that at least two individuals were detained by federal immigration officials near the General Hart Playground in Woodside within a week of each other. AP file photo by Alex Brandon
By Noah Powelson
Even after federal immigration officials said they had finished large-scale sweeps across the city, reports of federal agents conducting arrests near a Woodside playground continued to pour in throughout the week, angering local officials.
Queens elected officials and immigration advocates said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents had been seen conducting multiple sweeps and arresting at least two individuals near the General Hart Playground in Woodside this past week. The arrests reportedly took place in the presence of children and at a mobile soup kitchen in the late morning, which elected officials described as a “deliberate campaign of fear and intimidation.”
Queens City Councilmember Julie Won said one individual was arrested by ICE on Saturday while they were sitting on a bench in a public park.
“This community member was sitting on a bench when agents grabbed him without showing a warrant,” Won said in a statement. “His family does not know where he is being held and we are working with our federal partners to find out.”
Won also said her office received reports of another incident in the same area on Tuesday morning. ICE agents were reportedly staking out the line of a mobile food pantry inside unmarked parked cars from 10 to 11 a.m., when they arrested at least one individual waiting for food.
Queens Assemblymember Steven Raga said his office also received multiple reports of the arrests from local residents.
“What we are witnessing is a deliberate campaign of fear and intimidation directed at immigrant communities here in Queens and across our city,” Raga said in a statement. “No one should have to fear that going to work, taking their child to a playground, or simply walking through their own neighborhood could end with them being taken away by masked agents. Our immigrant neighbors are part of the fabric of Woodside and of New York City, and they deserve the same safety, dignity and fundamental rights as everyone else.”
A spokesperson for Raga’s office said the office had repeatedly contacted ICE’s field office about the detained individuals, but had received no reply.
While ICE has regularly conducted raids throughout Queens in the past weeks, the recent arrests sparked renewed outrage and claims that federal agents continue to target non-criminals in order to meet arrest quotas.
The arrests made this past week were a part of what ICE officials dubbed “Operation Rotten Apple,” which U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said resulted in the arrests of more than 2,197 individuals in New York.
The operation took place between July 27 and Aug. 29, according to Mullin, though ICE agents have continued to be spotted in the city in the days since. Mullin claimed ICE agents strictly targeted and arrested criminals, a claim that has been heavily disputed by New York elected officials and immigrant rights activists.
Announcing the operation’s results on Tuesday, Mullin also took the opportunity to take shots at Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani for not assisting with federal immigration crackdowns.
“Over the course of this operation, we arrested murderers, rapists, pedophiles, drug traffickers, and violent assailants,” Mullin said. “And we did it with no help from Mayor Mamdani and Governor Hochul. The Trump Administration is committed to protecting the American people in every city and every state, and we won’t let sanctuary politicians stand in our way.”
Mullin also criticized a new state law that went into effect in August banning 287(g) agreements, or formal agreements between ICE and New York local police and jails to share resources for civil immigration enforcement.
Speaking at an unrelated press conference on Tuesday, Hochul pushed back against Mullin’s comments, claiming the DHS secretary was stretching the definition of “criminal” to meet daily arrest quotas set by President Donald Trump. Hochul also said that four out of five individuals detained by ICE had no criminal record at all.
“There is no way that that number constitutes people who committed crimes the way we consider a crime in New York State,” Hochul said. “They consider anyone crossing the border a criminal, don’t fall for that…Their crime is their existence in the Trump administration’s eyes. I’m not buying that.”
Mamdani, who was with Hochul at the press conference, also dismissed Mullin’s claims that criminals are taking advantage of the city’s sanctuary city policies, saying most crime categories in the city have reached record lows over the past year.
“I don’t know how you describe a record low of murders and shootings as being anything other than something that should be celebrated,” Mamdani said.
“What we are seeing, however, from ICE is an attempt to criminalize the very fact of being an immigrant,” Mamdani added.
ICE arrests have surged across the country, but the agency has especially focused its activities on large immigrant communities that live in New York City. According to the agency’s data, ICE agents have arrested more than 43,000 people nationwide in June, averaging more than 1,500 arrests a day. Many are released on the same day.
More than 2,000 people have been arrested in Queens since Trump’s second term began, the most of any of the city’s boroughs.
The neighborhoods of Jamaica, Corona, East Elmhurst and Flushing were some of the most heavily targeted by ICE agents.
The surge in ICE arrests spurred Queens elected officials to rally in Corona Plaza in August. They warned residents to prepare for ICE raids and to have an emergency plan in place if they or a family member were detained.
Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas, whose district includes parts of Corona, said that her office receives daily reports of ICE making arrests in her district.
“Every single day, we get text messages from ICE watchers saying that ICE is in our communities,” González-Rojas said. “It doesn't matter if you're a small business owner. Doesn't matter if you're a five-year-old child. They are coming after all of us.”
