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At least three West African migrants detained in ICE’s bid to crack down on knockoff vendors on Canal Street last fall have been ordered freed — with one judge calling the busts “blatantly unlawful.”
Manhattan and New Jersey judges ordered the feds to release Mamadou Ndoye, Sergigne Diop and Abdou Tall after determining that the ICE agents made illegal arrests in Chinatown, court records show.
New Jersey District Judge Karen Williams slammed ICE’s Oct. 21 apprehension of Diop — a 19-year-old who has a type of immigration status meant to provide a path to citizenship for neglected children and teens — as “blatantly unlawful from the start” in a Dec. 29 ruling.
Ndoye, 45, a Mali native who has lived in the US for decades, was ordered released on Feb. 5 by Manhattan District Judge Vernon Broderick, court records show. The feds had a final order of removal for Ndoye, but failed to explain in court how they identified him or why he was arrested, the judge said.
“The mere fact that an individual may have a final order of removal does not mean that he
or she can be detained without any due process,” Broderick wrote.
A week later, however, Ndoye was detained again by ICE after what he was told would be a routine check-in to adjust his GPS monitor, Gothamist reported. He’s now being held at an immigration detention facility in New Jersey.
Tall was arrested by ICE in a similar Canal Street dragnet in November, court records show. Manhattan District Judge Arun Subramanian ordered him freed in a two-paragraph ruling on Dec. 23, finding similarly that his arrest was unlawful, court papers said.
At least four of the other seven alleged vendors nabbed by ICE in October are still locked up, and are being held at immigration jails in New Jersey and Louisiana, the agency’s online detainee locator shows.
The dramatic October raids sparked impromptu protests from locals and criticism from then Mayor Eric Adams.
“Our administration has been clear that undocumented New Yorkers trying to pursue their American Dreams should not be the target of law enforcement, and resources should instead be focused on violent criminals,” Adams said in a statement at the time.
The NYPD noted at the time that it was not involved in the fed sweep.
Department of Homeland Security officials touted the arrests in a press release where they announced that they were “MAKING NEW YORK’S CANAL STREET SAFE AGAIN.”
DHS also defended the busts in spite of the recent court losses.
“Despite activist judges, President Trump and Secretary (Kristi) Noem will continue fighting for the arrest, detention, and removal of criminal illegal aliens who have no right to terrorize our communities,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told Gothamist in a statement.
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