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The state attorney general has launched a recent digital platform asking citizens to provide visual evidence of immigration raids throughout the state. This action comes just a day after a significant ICE raid shook Manhattan's Chinatown, prompting mass protests.

US Citizens Held During ICE Operation

A US congressman revealed during a news conference that four citizens were detained and kept for "almost a full day" after the previous day's operation. Protests occurred in the city on consecutive evenings.

"Each citizen deserves to live without fear," the AG wrote in a statement.

"If you witnessed and recorded immigration enforcement yesterday, I urge you to provide that material with us. We are pledged to reviewing these reports and determining any legal breaches."

Form Details

The form offers fields to submit visual evidence of the operation, along with a field to note geographic details. When submitting, submitters must tick a option that acknowledges that "the attorney general could utilize any materials, images, or footage in a legal proceeding, including in a legal proceeding or official statement."

Information about the Manhattan Operation

The Manhattan operation, which onlookers say included dozens of government officers, occurred in a popular neighborhood of Manhattan where counterfeit handbags, accessories, jewelry and merchandise are commonly traded in large quantities – typically to tourists.

Recordings of Tuesday's raid show numerous hooded and equipped personnel securing and holding a individual, and shoving away bystanders. Crowds of locals pursued the personnel through the streets. An armored military vehicle was observed traveling down the city streets.

Political Response

At a Wednesday press conference featuring the rights organization, congressman Dan Goldman, a Democrat, announced that four American citizens were arrested by immigration for almost a full day and that there were "no situations where four American citizens should be taken for unjustly." He said the citizens were freed on Wednesday with no legal action taken.

"The intent is obvious here. It is not focused on deporting lawbreakers," the congressman said. "This represents a armed campaign to create conflict. It is merely a pretext to provoke conflict for this administration to deploy the armed forces to prevent unrest that they have created."

Widespread Condemnation

Anger over the immigration operation escalated – each of the mayoral candidates condemned the operation, along with NY's governor.

"Yet again, the federal government opts for authoritarian theatrics that generate terror, rather than security. It has to end," one mayoral candidate stated.

NYC community groups spoke out also.

"Federal officers raided Manhattan's Chinatown with armored transports, covered personnel and protective equipment to go after small merchants attempting to earn income. This action had no connection to citizen protection and focused completely on terrorizing immigrant families and neighborhoods," stated the head of a rights organization.

Agency Rules

ICE policy bans the holding of citizens and the agency has said it will not arrest or detain citizens. However, investigative journalism has found that over 170 citizens have been taken illegally by immigration authorities during the period of the existing leadership.

Ongoing Trend

Immigration operations have been cropping up increasingly in NY and across the US lately.

A mid-October raid in midtown Manhattan was the earliest reported action on an housing center of the current administration. Protests against federal operations are widespread along with claims of force and inhumane treatment.

Recently, a submission provided by advocacy organizations claimed inadequate care of expectant mothers in ICE facilities.