Friends and colleagues of an East Harlem delivery worker are reeling on Tuesday after masked ICE agents grabbed him off the street as he left for work Monday.
Associates of Dany Santiago Chacar Raquec, 23, told amNewYork that he received a DoorDash alert on his phone just before 6 p.m. on April 20, then tapped and accepted the delivery job. He grabbed his bicycle and headed out of his apartment near the corner of 106th Street and 1st Avenue, hoping to earn one more dollar for food for his daughter living in Guatemala.
Before he could get there, however, masked federal agents were lying in wait — and immediately confronted him, the associates said. He was last seen by eyewitnesses being handcuffed and whisked away in the back of a vehicle.
Raquec immigrated to the U.S. 2 1/2 years ago with his wife and daughter; they journeyed from Guatemala in pursuit of a better life.
Raquec’s friend, who knows the family, spoke with his wife, who was crying as she described the financial strain they are under. Raquec still owes money tied to the travel group that brought him to the country. His delivery work is the only support his family has to cover basic needs both here and for extended family back in Guatemala.
ICE arrest sends shockwaves in community
The friends and work colleagues of a Harlem delivery worker are reeling after the beloved man was detained by ICE on the street as he left for work Monday.Photo courtesy of Saint Peter’s Church and El diario de los Deliveryboys
Raquec’s wife is not the only one who is worried about this. The man’s friend, who asked not to be identified, is looking to move in with a neighbor until ICE leaves the area, since he lives close by.
“He called me around 9 p.m. yesterday. He asked me to get a lawyer for him. In that moment, I didn’t know what to do; I was in shock,” Raquec’s friend said. “You don’t know what can happen. I am very scared. I am afraid they could arrest us, too.”
Raquec’s friend described him as a calm person, but he suffers from depression due to the debt he was carrying.
Peter Melck Kuttel of Saint Peter’s Church, who offers legal resources to those detained by ICE, told amNewYork that Raquec does not have a criminal record. It is not exactly clear why ICE agents chose to target him.
“He is a delivery worker and also did some minor construction and other labor practices around the city. He had no criminal history. He had no outstanding warrants,” Kuttel said. “We are trying to explore every legal possibility, working with our partners around the city, as well as other organizations to try get him aid as quickly as possible.”
Sources with knowledge of the matter report that Raquec is currently being held at 26 Federal Plaza but is expected to be transferred elsewhere in the near future.
Sergio, a delivery worker and another friend of Raquec, expressed confusion about how this happened in New York City, given that Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed an order back in February that protects New Yorkers regardless of their immigration status.
“One of the things is that Mandami signed a law here in New York stating that if a judge’s warrant isn’t presented, people can’t just be taken away—it can’t happen arbitrarily. I don’t know if they actually showed the young man a judge’s warrant. Because otherwise, they would have gone directly to him,” Sergio, whose last name is omitted to protect his identity, said.
Executive Order No. 13, signed by Mayor Mamdani on Feb. 6, tightens New York City’s sanctuary protections to limit how federal immigration can operate in the city. The order, however, does not completely protect people from ICE detaining them in the streets.
“It creates panic. It creates confusion. I mean, something like this hasn’t happened in a while,” Sergo said.