Queens residents and immigration advocates rallied on Monday evening against what they described as a surge in ICE sightings and immigration arrests across the borough in recent weeks, charging that federal enforcement activity has left their neighbors terrified.

Residents, immigration rights activists, and elected officials gathered in Corona Plaza on Aug. 10 to decry a reported massive uptick in ICE activity throughout Elmhurst, East Elmhurst, College Point, and Corona. Organizers said armed federal agents have taken someone into custody in the area nearly every day in recent weeks.

“In the final week of July, we saw an amazing effort on their part to rip away community members from this community, specifically here in Corona, where over half of reported detentions and kidnappings happened in this neighborhood,” New York Immigration Coalition President and CEO Murad Awawdeh said. “That should tell you something. The Trump administration has never been interested in safety and security. They have only been interested in creating more panic, chaos, and fear, and it has been rooted in their horrific cruelty.”

A Queens community railed Monday evening against what residents and immigration advocates described as a surge in ICE sightingsPhoto by Ramy Mahmoud A Queens community railed Monday evening against what residents and immigration advocates described as a surge in ICE sightingsPhoto by Dean Moses

Awawdeh, however, said the communities and activists were resolved to speak out against the operations.

“But we have a message for them: The people of New York are united. The people will continue to fight back. The people will stand up for their neighbors, and we as New Yorkers, will not allow them to wreak their havoc here,” he added.

The large crowd gathered at Corona Plaza on Aug. 10 brandished signs denouncing immigration enforcement and chanting for ICE to leave New York City.

Corona is home to a diverse immigrant community, including scores of street vendors who sell food and other goods to make ends meet. City Council Member Shekar Krishnan, who represents Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, and Woodside, also condemned the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

“Here in Queens, we represent not only what this city is but what our country is. We are the essential workers, the street vendors, the caregivers, the domestic workers, the taxi drivers, the small business owners that move this city forward every single day — it would not survive without our immigrant communities. These attacks and this hate is nothing new. We have seen it before,” Krishnan said.

“When you come for one of us, you come for all of us,” he added.

Council Member Shekar Krishnar. Photo by Ramy Mahmoud orona is home to a diverse immigrant community, including scores of street vendors who sell food and other goods to make ends meet.Photo by Dean Moses A large crowd gathered in the plaza, brandishing signs denouncing immigration enforcement and chanting for ICE to leave New York City.Photo by Dean Moses

The rally comes after amNewYork previously reported on increased ICE enforcement not only in Queens but across New York City.

On July 30, an elderly woman was pepper-sprayed by a masked Department of Homeland Security agent as she filmed on her cellphone in Inwood. On Aug. 2, protesters gathered outside NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital after a man was reportedly spotted being detained inside the emergency room by masked federal agents. A DHS vehicle pulled into the emergency bay as protesters fumed, while the detained man was taken out through another exit.

Immigration rights organizations are urging people who may encounter ICE agents to “know their rights,” so they and their loved ones understand how to interact with federal officials.

“At Make the Road, we have spent the past two years training thousands of people so that they know what their constitutional rights are, because their rights are protected, no matter what people say, and how they can affirm these rights if they come into contact with immigration enforcement,” Luba Cortés of Make the Road New York said. “Along with our partners here today, we have gone door to door, business to business, to educate our people and help them protect themselves. We have trained neighborhood watch groups so that they know they have the right to record interactions, again protected by the Constitution, and we’ve made sure that everybody is aware of how to report ICE activity.”

A large crowd gathered in the plaza, brandishing signs denouncing immigration enforcement and chanting for ICE to leave New York City.Photo by Ramy Mahmoud A large crowd gathered in the plaza, brandishing signs denouncing immigration enforcement and chanting for ICE to leave New York City.Photo by Dean Moses