With New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani escalating his opposition to ICE, federal agents continue to carry out high-stakes street arrests that one of the agency's top officials says could be avoided if the city cooperated with federal authorities instead of enforcing its sanctuary policies.
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city → escalate → policies
Fox News Digital embedded with ICE agents last Thursday, getting a rare, firsthand look at the surveillance, tense stakeouts and split-second decisions behind arrests on Brooklyn streets — while riding along with the agency's top local enforcement official as he blasted city and state leaders over policies he says put officers and the public at risk.
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he → embed → risk
The early-morning operation saw agents move in on two men, handcuffing them and rushing them into unmarked SUVs.
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agents → see → SUVs
The second turned into a tense struggle.
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second → turn → struggle
Behind the wheel was Ken Genalo, head of ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in New York City, who accused Mamdani, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the City Council of keeping dangerous offenders on the streets.
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who → accuse → streets
It is not about public safety," Genalo said as he sat in his vehicle while his team staked out a Georgian illegal migrant charged with sexual abuse.
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team → say → abuse
He argued that sanctuary laws force ICE to track down suspects who should have been handed over to agents at local jails.
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who → argue → jails
Instead agents have to try and apprehend migrants on city streets.
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agents → have → streets
"They don't acknowledge the victims, they don't acknowledge the angel families, those that unfortunately have suffered severe loss due to illegal alien crime," he said.
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he → acknowledge → crime
The operation came less than a week after Mamdani released a Spanish-language video advising New Yorkers on how to respond to ICE agents, as tensions flared following the shooting of a Dominican migrant who authorities say tried to ram officers with his vehicle.
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authorities → come → vehicle
The migrant had been in the U.S. for just three years but had already racked up a lengthy rap sheet for theft, robbery, assault, drug and weapons offenses, according to DHS.
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migrant → rack → DHS
The Brooklyn arrests came amid a wider enforcement push with ICE, arresting nearly 2,200 illegal migrants during a statewide crackdown in August, known as Operation Rotten Apple.
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arrests → come → Apple
But the ride-along with ICE revealed what those figures cannot: hours of painstaking surveillance, careful planning and tense waiting — all for arrests that can be over in seconds and quickly escalate.
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that → reveal → seconds
WATCH: NYC ICE official rips Mamdani, sanctuary laws after tense street arrests
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official → watch → arrests
Inside ICE's predawn raids
Before dawn Thursday, more than a dozen armed ICE agents gathered at a secret Brooklyn location, wearing protective vests marked "ERO."
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agents → gather → vests
Commanders briefed them on several targets and the potential risks: one might be armed, another was an amateur boxer.
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another → brief → targets
The stark warnings offered a glimpse into the dangers agents face as they head onto the streets to carry out arrests.
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they → offer → arrests
Agents checked their gear, attached body cameras to their vests and hit the streets around 5:50 a.m.
Genalo drove an unmarked SUV, monitoring radio chatter and explaining how agents tracked their targets, what could go wrong and why timing was critical.
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timing → check → targets
The first target was Nika Tkeshelashvili, 40, a Georgian national who ICE said entered the United States illegally through the southern border in January 2023 and was arrested in September on a first-degree sexual abuse charge.
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ICE → say → charge
The charge remains pending.
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charge → pende → ?
His next immigration court hearing wasn't until October 2028 — a five-year wait that drew disbelief from Genalo.
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that → draw → Genalo
As the SUV rolled through Brooklyn, Genalo explained how agents establish a "pattern of life" — studying a suspect's routine to determine when and where to make an arrest.
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agents → roll → arrest
Agents believed he regularly emerged between 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. to move his car and avoid a parking ticket.
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he → believe → ticket
Unmarked ICE vehicles took up positions along nearby streets while Fox News Digital waited with Genalo roughly half a block away, with a clear view of the apartment building where the Georgian national was expected to emerge.
But as the minutes ticked by, he was nowhere to be seen.
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he → take → building
Genalo remained unfazed.
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Genalo → remain → ?
Meanwhile, daylight crept across the neighborhood, bringing commuters, schoolchildren and growing traffic.
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daylight → creep → commuters
Genalo explained that darkness was an ally during these operations, but as the streets filled, a discreet arrest became harder.
Even weeks of surveillance could not guarantee Tkeshelashvili would appear, Genalo explained.
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Genalo → explain → surveillance
If he stayed inside, agents might have to return another day.
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agents → stay → ?
Then, at 7:57 a.m., a voice broke over the radio.
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voice → break → radio
"Target one just stepped out with a cigarette going towards the car if I'm not mistaken," an agent reported.
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agent → step → car
Genalo raised his hand and pointed toward the radio.
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Genalo → raise → radio
"I think that's ours," he said as more chatter crackled through the SUV.
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chatter → think → SUV
"He's wearing a black vest, red shirt, red hat," another agent radioed.
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agent → wear → vest
That's Tango," an agent called out.
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agent → call → ?
Within moments, agents converged on Tkeshelashvili in the middle of the street.
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agents → converge → street
Genalo accelerated toward the scene, the arrest unfolding through the SUV's windshield.
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arrest → accelerate → windshield
By the time Fox News Digital pulled up, officers had already handcuffed Tkeshelashvili and were moving him into a waiting vehicle.
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officers → pull → vehicle
He remained calm and said little.
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He → remain → little
Within moments, the team was moving on toward Target 2.
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team → move → Target
Genalo hailed the arrest as "textbook" and "flawless," praising the intelligence, timing and surprise that allowed agents to secure their target without a struggle.
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agents → hail → struggle
…and 60 more, not listed.
The Aporia
