\nOct. 24, 2025, 3:28 PM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n
Tourists and locals alike know they can emerge from the dingy subway stations along roughly five blocks of New York City\u2019s Canal Street to be greeted with rows of sparkling, polished designer knockoff bags, watches, jewelry \u2014 and their hawkers.<\/p>\n
This week was different. On Tuesday, a federal immigration raid on street vendors who power the mini-economy of Canal\u2019s sidewalks sent many retreating into the shadows. Federal immigration agents arrested nine individuals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe vendors, they\u2019re gone,\u201d photographer Harlan Erskine, who works in the neighborhood, said Wednesday. \u201cIt feels like an odd holiday.\u201d<\/p>\n
But New Yorkers are resilient, and by Thursday afternoon the neighborhood appeared to be slowly trickling back to life. A 45-year-old sunglasses vendor, who gave his name only as Michael, said he felt the pressure to keep working. <\/p>\n
\u201cI have to work, do you think the president of the United States is going to pay my rent?\u201d he said. \u201cHell no.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A protester is arrested Tuesday as law enforcement conduct a raid on street vendors in the Canal Street area in New York.<\/span>MIchael Nigro \/ Sipa USA via AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
It\u2019s a quintessentially New York City statement, capturing a quintessentially New York City moment. That same defiant spirit was on display during Tuesday\u2019s raid, when the dozens of masked federal immigration agents who descended on Canal Street were greeted by residents who hurled profanities and angry taunts in protest and recorded the scene. <\/p>\n
The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday described the operation as a \u201ctargeted, intelligence-driven enforcement operation on Canal Street\u201d that \u201cfocused on criminal activity relating to selling counterfeit goods.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite violent rioters who assaulted and obstructed law enforcement by blocking vehicles, nine criminal illegal aliens were arrested,\u201d the DHS said in a statement, adding that the suspects\u2019 records include charges such as robbery, burglary and counterfeiting.<\/p>\n
A history of crackdowns and resilience<\/strong><\/h2>\nFor decades, Canal Street has been synonymous with New York\u2019s underground economy \u2014 a place where tourists bargain for imitation designer goods and immigrants carve out livelihoods. <\/p>\n
These blocks have seen numerous NYPD crackdowns and federal stings targeting the counterfeit merchandise. The luxury industry has long argued that counterfeit sales siphon billions from designer brands each year, fueling an illicit global trade. Yet each time, the street has rebounded. Many of the vendors \u2014 often West African and Chinese immigrants \u2014 return, driven by a demand for cheap luxury goods and the lack of better economic opportunities. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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The sidewalks of Canal Street, usually bustling with vendors, were mostly empty a day after the raid.<\/span>John Taggart for NBC News<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\u201cI think it just felt so targeted to see street vendors being rounded up and detained just for trying to make a living,\u201d said Assefash Makonnen, the communications director of the advocacy group African Communities Together. \u201cCanal Street is known for this vending culture and I feel like it is definitely an attack on Black immigrants, but this is really an attack on the culture of New York and like a really iconic part of our city.\u201d<\/p>\n
DHS on Thursday declined to answer questions about the status of the vendors following their arrest or address concerns about the raid by advocacy groups and community members.<\/p>\n
A bulk of the arrests occurred near Canal and Church Street, a longtime meeting point for shoppers looking for knockoff luxury handbags.<\/p>\n
In the immediate aftermath, there were barely any visible street vendors on Canal Street between West Broadway and Centre Street. While dozens of hawkers normally fill that third -of-a-mile-long stretch, only two stands were open for business a day after the raids. A sign taped to a traffic barrier a few blocks away read \u201cICE kidnapped 40 people on Canal\/Church,\u201d with a legal defense hotline included.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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A sign on Canal Street on Wednesday includes a number for a legal defense hotline.<\/span>John Taggart for NBC News<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
The same two vendors returned Thursday, joined by two others and a handful of sellers flashing laminated cards advertising knockoff handbags and jewelry. Still, the crowds were thin and the usual hustle subdued. <\/p>\n
Fassa Bandiougou, 53, who came to the U.S. from Mauritania 27 years ago, was back on Canal Street Wednesday selling phone cases. <\/p>\n
\u201cOf course I have to come out here and work. If I don\u2019t, then who is going to take care of me or pay my bills,\u201d Bandiougou said. <\/p>\n
He added that he makes $100 to $150 a day and he tries to send $200 a month back to his home country to support his mother, wife and four kids.<\/p>\n
Edwin Jean, a Brooklyn resident who uses laminated cards to hawk knockoff handbags on Canal Street, said the raid shook the vendor community.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of my good friends, they\u2019re locked up and not here. But I really can\u2019t do anything about that, you know?\u201d Jean said. \u201cYeah, people are scared and I don\u2019t know if they\u2019re [other vendors] coming back. They don\u2019t want to take that risk and end up in jail.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Vendors on Canal Street on Wednesday.<\/span>John Taggart for NBC News<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
Tourists, too, noticed the change. Abby Ivers, a college student from Georgia visiting with her sister, said shopping for knockoffs was a part of their New York ritual.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were worried that they were not going to be out here anymore,\u201d Ivers said, moments after her backstreet purchase on Thursday. \u201cIt\u2019s just really sad \u2014 I mean this is how they make their money, even if it\u2019s technically not the best way of doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n
At least one storeowner voiced his support for the crackdown.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the street with the vendors, people cannot even walk on the sidewalk,\u201d said David Gonzales, manager of a Canal Street gift store near Cortlandt Alley. \u201cNow they can. I\u2019m OK with it [federal action]. I\u2019m legal. I do everything legal here so I don\u2019t have anything to be worried about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Advocates call for more support<\/strong><\/h2>\nBethany Li, executive director of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, whose offices are located blocks away from the site of the raid, denounced ICE\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we saw in terms of the threats and intimidation from federal law enforcement on Canal Street was horrific,\u201d Li said. \u201cThese raids are impacting so many communities of color across the board.\u201d <\/p>\n
But, Li said, the raid also showed how public resistance to ICE\u2019s action is building. Protesters gathered at nearby Foley Square on Wednesday to draw attention to the raid.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s so important for essentially bystanders to be standing up for immigrants because not all immigrants can resist in that same way,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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The nine men arrested were all in the United States illegally, DHS said. Five were from Senegal and one each was from Mali, Mauritania and Guinea. DHS didn\u2019t identify the country of origin of one of the men.<\/p>\n
The agency said it also took five protesters into custody, accusing four of assaulting law enforcement and one of obstruction.<\/p>\n
DHS told NBC News on Thursday that the protesters had been released pending further investigation with the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. <\/p>\n
Makonnen, of the group African Communities Together, said they\u2019ve been working closely with <\/strong>street vendors and other local organizations to ensure they know their rights and the resources available to them. <\/p>\nLi said her advocacy group is also focused on continuing to educate immigrants and push the city and state to provide more services for the \u201chuge range of immigrants and migrants who are impacted by these ICE raids, as we very clearly saw on Canal Street.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jean, the handbag vendor, said no amount of fear will stop him from working. He said he took Wednesday off, not because of ICE fears, but because he had to take his daughter to the dentist. <\/p>\n
\u201cDonald Trump don\u2019t pay my bills,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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David K. Li<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nSenior Breaking News Reporter<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Daniella Silva<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nDaniella Silva is a national reporter for NBC News, focusing on immigration and education.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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