As the Trump administration tried to quell the outrage building across the country after two American citizens were shot and killed by U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 7 (Renee Goode) and Jan. 24 (Alex Pretti), ICE agent sightings were reported by various Bronx and other New York residents in early February in the Bronx neighborhoods of Riverdale, Highbridge, and Throggs Neck, as well as in Yonkers.

 

The sighting in Riverdale was reported on various online social media platforms and websites around Jan. 30. One Reddit post read, “Hey everyone, heads up. One of our friends spotted ICE at Lloyd’s Carrot Cake on Broadway across from Van Cortlandt Park this morning.” The user added, “We have reached out to our lawyer friends who have reached out to their contacts in the City Council, state representatives, and the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union.) The user added, “Be safe out there.”

 

Another Reddit user, Dfsteele3, alleged, “I heard from someone they were on the 242^nd [Street subway station] platform last night looking for people.” Yet another fellow Reddit user, OneCouple-5386, an apparent ICE supporter, wrote, “If you enter the country illegally, you get deported.”

 

Meanwhile, user, PreferencePresent959, responded, “Hope you aren’t Black or Brown because when they throw you in the back of their van for not pulling out your papers fast enough, I’m going to send you my thoughts and prayers.”

 

A separate TikTok video posted by Verónica / Valor Management showed a panoramic view of a section of Riverdale with the accompanying message, “ICE has a checkpoint in the Bronx by [West] 246th [Street] and Broadway.” She added, “Please repost to save a life.” The post ended with the message: “Stay safe.” The video had generated over 8,000 views by early February.

 

Another TikTok user, Nora Rubin, seemed to confirm ICE’s presence in the area, writing, “Yes! We were there and they took pictures of us.” Meanwhile, yet another user, Pink Unicorn, added, “I heard ICE was around all day yesterday. I personally didn’t see them. I was told they were all around the park.” Another user, CyberSapphire, alleged, “They were at Home Depot in the Bronx by Throggs Neck.”

 

Other posts circulating on social media at the time appeared to show a federal agent taking a suspected undocumented female migrant into custody outside an immigration courtroom at 26 Federal Plaza in Manhattan.

 

Meanwhile, according to a separate website that tracks and posts about ICE sightings across the country, ICE agents were also seen at 189 Van Cortlandt Park South in the Van Cortlandt Village section of the borough. An website extract read, “ICE officers are beginning to park their vehicles in Van Cortlandt Park, wearing masks. They’ll likely be in the park and the local area.” The same website also had an alert for the agents spotted at West 242nd Street and Broadway in Riverdale.

 

On Monday, Feb. 2, in response to a request about the alleged ICE sightings, a representative at the Office of Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (A.D. 81) said, “We haven’t heard any verified information. I mean we’re heard rumors from constituents.” The person continued, “We heard about some potential ICE activity around Van Cortlandt Park on Friday [Jan. 30] but again, we haven’t seen that verified by any news outlets or by any elected officials. It was really just kind of word-of-mouth and people calling or writing us.”

 

Meanwhile, Yonkers Voice News, a self-described community forum [but not a news site] where news is discussed, published a video on Feb. 3 apparently showing ICE agents detaining a man on South Broadway in Yonkers on Monday, Feb. 2. Ironically, the man appeared to be located outside a law firm at the time. Westchester residents working in The Bronx or Manhattan often use buses that travel along Broadway to get to Westchester.

 

The accompanying text read, “We just received this video that shows what appears to be ICE agents on South Broadway yesterday (02/02/26.) At least one person was taken into custody.” The post was later updated to read, “We just heard from Yonkers City Hall in regards to the article above. City Hall states they cannot confirm or deny the validity of this article”

 

Another unconfirmed ICE sighting was reported in the area of the New Settlement Community Center located at 1501 Jerome Avenue in the Mt. Eden section of The Bronx, that also houses several schools. On Tuesday, Feb. 3, a woman who answered the phone at the center said ICE had been spotted in the area the previous day.

 

Asked if she had witnessed the activity, she replied, “It wasn’t me, personally. It was kind of shared to everyone here.” Asked if she had heard if anyone had been taken into custody, the woman said, “I do not think anybody was taken into custody, but they did say they were around Macombs Road, and then somewhere around 172nd Street, and they just told everyone to be cautious.”

 

Norwood News sent requests to the ICE press office on several different dates to request more information about the apparent arrests in The Bronx. We did not receive an immediate response.

 

On Tuesday, Feb. 3, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the launch of the Legal Observation Project, a new initiative by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) to monitor and document federal immigration enforcement activity in New York State and to protect New Yorkers’ rights.

OAG officials said through the project, OAG will collect reports of enforcement actions throughout New York and send trained personnel to observe and document such activity where appropriate, as well as to any related protests as they occur. They said the legal observers will serve as neutral witnesses on the ground, recording information that they said may inform future legal action. They said as federal immigration enforcement activity increases nationwide, the Legal Observation Project will “help ensure that accurate, real-time information is collected and preserved, and that any violations of law are identified.”

 

James said, “As attorney general, I am proud to protect New Yorkers’ constitutional rights to speak freely, protest peacefully, and go about their lives without fear of unlawful federal action. We have seen in Minnesota how quickly and tragically federal operations can escalate in the absence of transparency and accountability. My office is launching the Legal Observation Project to examine federal enforcement activity in New York and whether it remains within the bounds of the law.”

 

The project, which OAG officials said is to be staffed by trained OAG employees participating on a voluntary basis, will begin monitoring enforcement actions in the coming weeks. They said, when necessary, OAG will send teams of legal observers to the location of reported immigration enforcement activity, outfitted in easily identifiable, purple OAG-branded safety vests, to witness and document enforcement actions. They said observers will not interfere with enforcement activity and “their role is solely to document federal conduct in a safe and lawful manner.”

 

OAG officials said as New York’s chief law enforcement officer, the attorney general has a responsibility to uphold the rule of law and protect the civil rights and constitutional freedoms of all New Yorkers. They said the Legal Observation Project will support this mandate by ensuring OAG has timely, accurate information to assess whether enforcement activity complies with the law.

 

James is also urging New Yorkers to submit videos or other documentation of federal immigration enforcement actions directly to the OAG through its secure online portal. OAG officials said reports submitted through the portal will help the Office assess activity and determine whether further investigation is warranted.

 

OAG officials went on to say that the project continues the Office’s work to protect New York’s sovereignty and that the OAG has also released guidance for law enforcement agencies, health care providers, non-profits, schools, and workplaces on navigating cooperation with federal immigration enforcement officers.

 

On Feb. 4, U.S. “Border Czar” Tom Homan stated during a press conference in Minneapolis that 700 ICE agents would be leaving the Twin Cities to be redeployed to other cities they had been pulled from previously, including New York City.

 

As reported, fear had been palpable among immigrant communities in The Bronx in January 2025, when various federal agents first converged on the borough at the start of the Trump administration. By Jan. 28, 2025, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Sec. Kristi Noem, joined by DEA agents, was on the ground in The Bronx as at least two apartment buildings on Rosewood Street and Creston Avenue, they raided, and before federal agents moving on to other cities.

 

Norwood News readers had weighed in with their thoughts on the ICE raids at the time. A few months later, as reported, when contacted, ICE told Norwood News an “alien” with a criminal record was arrested by ICE agents in the nearby Bedford Park section of The Bronx on April 15.

 

Norwood News reached out to ICE and the NYPD for comment on the latest ICE sightings in The Bronx. We did not receive an immediate response. We will share any updates we receive.

 

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