NYC Residents Applaud ICE Raids Targeting Criminal Aliens Amid Trump’s Crackdown [WATCH]

Residents in Hispanic and Black communities across New York City voiced strong support for a wave of immigration raids conducted by federal agents on Tuesday, targeting migrants with outstanding warrants for violent crimes.

The coordinated operation, which began in the Bronx, led to the arrest of suspected gang members and criminals, including an alleged leader of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua.

In the Bronx, where President Donald Trump saw a 35% increase in support between 2020 and 2024, heavily armed federal immigration agents raided locations tied to suspected murderers, kidnappers, and other violent offenders.

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One of the key arrests included Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, 25, an alleged ringleader of Tren de Aragua, who was taken into custody at an apartment on Ogden Avenue.

A local resident, visibly relieved, reacted to the news.

“Oh, thank God they got him,” she said.

Others in the borough shared similar sentiments about the law enforcement crackdown.

“Get them the hell off the street! Get them the hell out of the street so people don’t have to walk in fear,” said Evelyn Brown, 80, a Trump voter from Jamaica.

“Take the damn bad ones away!”

In Washington Heights, where Trump’s support grew by 5% in 2024, a resident of the Knickerbocker apartment complex expressed mixed feelings about the raids.

“Too many people came over the border at once, and now it has to be a whole operation,” he said, noting that he voted for Trump in 2020 but did not make it to the polls in 2024.

“I don’t want dangerous people on the street, especially if we’re paying for it. People getting hurt on the street. Why should they get a pass?”

However, he also expressed concern about law-abiding migrant families who could be caught up in deportation efforts.

“I don’t want to see them separated or hurt back home,” he added. “It’s all a mess.”

In Queens, where Trump’s support rose by 10.5% from 2020 to 2024, many residents backed the raids but hoped that law-abiding migrants would not be affected.

Jason Rodriguez, 41, a forklift driver and security camera installer, said he supported the removal of violent criminals like the Tren de Aragua gang members but acknowledged that fear is spreading among hardworking, undocumented migrants.

“Honestly, it’s good to get Tren de Aragua off the streets because they’re dangerous. Trump should deport the criminals,” said Rodriguez, who was born in Brooklyn to Dominican immigrant parents.

“Their jails in their own countries are a lot worse than here. They don’t care about being locked up here, so they should be deported,” he said.

However, he emphasized that not all undocumented migrants should be treated the same.

“There are a lot of undocumented, hardworking people busting their ass doing 14- and 16-hour days to support their families. They’re doing it right. They’re contributing to society, unlike the criminals.”

Damso Vargas, 52, an electrical engineer from Elmhurst, came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic in 2001 and has since become a U.S. citizen.

He said the influx of illegal immigrants under President Joe Biden lacked proper vetting and believes the criminal element must be removed.

“If you come to this country, you need to show respect and work hard. You don’t come here to do gang bulls–t,” Vargas said. “If you come to my country, I’d expect you to do the right thing.”

He also pointed out that crime has surged in parts of Queens following the mass migration influx.

“I remember in 2010, you could walk around Roosevelt Avenue and enjoy yourself, but now I’m scared to walk around because there are a lot of newly arrived migrant criminals,” he said.

Dolphin Chung, 57, a Peruvian green-card holder who sells jewelry in Jackson Heights, expressed support for deporting criminals but said he does not favor mass deportations.

“The foreign criminals are dangerous, so it’s good to get rid of them,” Chung said.

“We don’t want the foreign gangs here. But there are a lot of people around here who don’t have papers but work very hard. They work from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m., seven days a week.”

On Staten Island, a Republican stronghold in New York City, Trump won for a third consecutive election.

Kevin Morales, 43, a construction worker, said he voted for Trump in 2024 but not in 2020. He emphasized that not all migrants should be treated the same.

“Listen, there’s too many people here that aren’t looking to make a better life for themselves. Instead, they are robbing, shooting, and raping. Those are not the kind of immigrants we want here,” he told The New York Post at Greenridge Plaza in Great Kills.

“I’m an immigrant and come from a family of immigrants, but we work. We came here to work and make a better life for our children.”

As Trump’s immigration enforcement ramps up, many New Yorkers in traditionally Democratic neighborhoods have expressed support for targeted ICE operations against violent criminals.

While some fear wider deportation sweeps, many residents agree that the focus should be on removing gang members, violent offenders, and those with outstanding warrants.

With ICE operations continuing across the city, the impact of Trump’s immigration policy shift is already being felt in communities where crime has surged in recent years.

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