Overnight immigration raids on Tuesday in upper Manhattan and the Bronx resulted in one high-profile arrest and left local electeds and groups pledging support for rattled communities.
Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reportedly took at least 20 people into custody on Jan. 28, most notably a man who was allegedly a leader of the Tren de Aragua gang out of Venezuela.
The kingpin was reportedly facing several criminal charges in Colorado and New York, including burglary, kidnapping and menacing, and was taken from 1372 Ogden Ave. in the Highbridge neighborhood.
The raids were widely publicized, including on the social media accounts of Kristi Noem, Trump’s newly-appointed head of the Department of Homeland Security. Noem appeared in a video during the raids wearing a POLICE ICE vest and saying, “Getting these dirt bags off our streets.”

Though President Trump’s goals for mass deportation have been widely publicized, the local raids left communities stunned.
Assembly Member Landon Dais, who represents the Highbridge area, posted a message of support in English and Spanish on X, along with a separate “Know Your Rights” post.
“To our immigrant community: Highbridge is your home, and you are a vital part of what makes our community stand out,” Dais wrote. “My team and I stand with you and are here to support you. … I hear you, I see you, and I will always fight for you!”
Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson issued a statement Tuesday saying her office is awaiting more information on the raids and inviting residents to a Feb. 5 “Know Your Rights” training in collaboration with the New York Immigration Coalition.
Rep. Ritchie Torres, who represents Highbridge, declined to comment for this story but posted on his personal Instagram account reacting to the arrest of Zambrano-Pacheco, “I strongly favor surgically removing violent criminals, especially gang leaders, from the Bronx.”
“If you are among the activists who want to open your homes and communities to violent gang leaders, you [are] more than welcome to roll out the red carpet for them. But we in the Bronx want them gone,” wrote Torres.
The congressman has adopted a tougher stance on immigration, which he said was prompted by his experience in New York City since the start of the migrant crisis. Torres broke from most House Democrats in voting for the Laken Riley Act, which increases the authority of states on immigration and requires the detention of many more immigrants facing theft-related charges.
Council Member Althea Stevens, who also represents Highbridge, did not respond to request for comment but said on Instagram that “we must stand united and resist” ICE raids. She told Spectrum 1 News that the raids appear to be targeting Black and brown people and not, for instance, European immigrants who fled the war in Ukraine.
The Bronx Times reached out to two community organizations and PS 11X The Highbridge School, located across the street from where the raid occurred, but did not receive a response.
The Bronx and New York City will likely see more frequent immigration enforcement as the Trump administration aims to vastly increase the nationwide number of ICE arrests.
The administration has imposed a quota of 75 arrests per day for each of the 25 nationwide ICE field offices, a number far above current levels, according to reporting by the Washington Post. Gothamist reports that ICE arrested about 282 people per day in September 2024, with about five per day in New York City, and in 2023, ICE arrested about 415 total people per day.
ICE has begun posting daily arrest updates to its X account (@ICEgov) and on Tuesday reported 969 arrests and 869 detainers lodged, meaning the agency “probable cause to believe that an alien is removable — typically after a court has convicted them of one or more crimes — and typically when the alien poses a public safety or national security threat.”
Click here to register for the Borough President’s “Know Your Rights” training.
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes