In late October, dozens of federal agents, including ICE, poured out of their Manhattan headquarters and onto Canal Street to conduct an immigration raid. A spontaneous crowd surrounded the agents, but by the time local immigration advocates and organizers got there, it was too late. Authorities had already detained several street vendors. Two weeks ago, though, it was the protesters who surprised ICE.

Organizers had a feeling the authorities might take advantage of Thanksgiving weekend to stage their next raid. Their suspicion grew when volunteers who were patrolling Canal Street noticed early that morning on November 29 that there were more vehicles on the road than usual. They also observed that many cars were moving toward a garage nearby. “We would be able to tell that a raid was going to happen just based on the movement around Federal Plaza, because that is ICE headquarters,” says Samantha, a young organizer who declined to be identified for fear of retaliation from the federal government. Activists alerted each other in Signal chats to come to the garage, then issued a call for action to the public on social media. Samantha grabbed a mask, a hat, and 25 whistles and rushed downtown from Brooklyn.

By the time she arrived, about 50 people were blocking the garage’s exit. They locked arms and chanted, “ICE out of New York!” She handed out whistles to passersby, some of whom joined in. “Once people see with their own eyes, Oh, shit it’s happening here in my city, the feeling is a lot different than seeing it on their Instagram Reels or TikTok feed,” she says. Protesters dragged trash cans and wood pallets to put in the federal agents’ path. Others stood in front of government vans, stopping and slowing their progress all the way to Holland Tunnel, about a mile away. Julie DeLaurier, 69, locked eyes with one federal agent and said, “You don’t have to do this.” By the time the NYPD arrived a half-hour later, organizers say the protest had grown to some 200 people. Police eventually cleared a path for ICE to leave, using pepper spray on protesters and arresting more than a dozen people.

“These were all delay tactics — we didn’t interfere with any arrests — but the delays allowed word to spread, and they........

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