Phone calls from concerned tenants in an apartment complex woke up the Bronx building’s manager at around 6 a.m. Tuesday.
“They were telling me that ICE was there,” the building manager, who declined to be identified, told NBC News.
New York was among the latest cities where Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted raids, grabbing the attention of residents and business owners who were surprised by the early morning activity — which is part of the Trump administration’s heightened push to boost deportations and make them very visible, targeting major cities and publicizing the actions.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on social media that she was present when officers from ICE and other law enforcement agencies arrested at least one undocumented person in the apartment building in the Highbridge section of the Bronx.
NBC News spoke with seven workers and business owners in the area late Tuesday morning as New York City police officers remained at the scene.
Most of them were surprised and said that, while crime has long been a problem in the neighborhood, immigration enforcement actions are rare.
“I think it’s OK if they need to arrest somebody because they committed a crime, but I worry that with ICE, they may also arrest others that haven’t done anything bad,” a 28-year-old business owner, who asked that his name not be used out of fear, said in Spanish.
According to data from the Furman Center at New York University, which researches housing and urban policies, the serious crime rate in Highbridge is higher than the citywide figure.
Even though city and state laws prevent New York police from getting involved in civil immigration enforcement, the police department is part of the Homeland Security Investigations task force, which cracks down on violations of federal criminal law.
As part of the task force, police officers were present for the “criminal enforcement action” early Tuesday. They said the undocumented person who was arrested was wanted on suspicion of serious crimes, including kidnapping, assault and burglary.
Mayor Eric Adams said the immigration enforcement operation was led by the Department of Homeland Security and supported by other federal agencies, as well as the NYPD.
