Scammers were back to business as usual less than a month after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cracked down on illegal immigrants allegedly selling luxury knockoffs on New York’s infamous Canal Street, according to a Sunday report.
Despite the threat of deportation, dozens of these scammers have returned to Canal Street to allegedly continue selling fake designer bags, electronics and more in preparation for the holidays, according to the New York Post. (RELATED: Behind The Scenes With ICE In Sanctuary State That Puts Agents And Children At Risk)
ICE conducted an operation on Chinatown street Oct. 21 and arrested nine illegal aliens for various alleged crimes, including assaulting law enforcement, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) statement.
“ICE conducted a targeted, intelligence-driven enforcement operation on Canal Street in New York City focused on criminal activity relating to selling counterfeit goods yesterday. ICE arrested nine illegal aliens with criminal histories including robbery, burglary, domestic violence, assaulting law enforcement, counterfeiting, drug trafficking, drug possession and forgery,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in an Oct. 22 statement.
“The majority of those arrested were released into the country by the Biden administration. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in the U.S,” she continued.
Those arrested entered the U.S. illegally largely from countries in Africa, including Senegal, according to the DHS.
🤯This is who sanctuary jurisdictions want to protect?
Nine illegal aliens with rap sheets that include robbery, burglary, domestic violence, assaulting law enforcement, counterfeiting, drug trafficking, drug possession and forgery were arrested in a New York City targeted… pic.twitter.com/mx8AWYUhKr
— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) October 25, 2025
The illicit vendors retreated Friday after New York Police Department (NYPD) officers discovered their operations, according to the New York Post. By Sunday, nearly 100 of these alleged scammers were back, peddling and crowding the same street in preparation for the holidays.
One former shoe-hawker, Diango, told the Post the vendors are often from Asia and Africa. He claimed they may not even earn $100 for a day’s work, according to the outlet.
“They’re not afraid, they’re working to make a life,” he told the New York Post.
“They’re paranoid, that’s for sure,” Diango added. “You go in there and tell them immigration is here, and they’ll disappear. Not run, but disappear.”
The time it takes for the vendors to leave the streets and return continues to decrease, according to the outlet. A dozen men reportedly folded their bedsheets and tables before fleeing down the sidewalk or into the subway seconds after police sirens rang out Sunday.
The makeshift storefronts were already operational minutes after the police had left, according to the outlet.
“They come when the cops are not around. You see the cops, and they wait for vendors to get on their spot to catch them,” a Canal Street gift-shop worker named Sowmmo told the Post.
He said October’s arrest potentially made the vendors think twice, but that there is not much the police can do.
“There is nothing to do about it. They will be here forever unless it happens over and over again,” Sowmmo concluded.
When asked if ICE had any plans to target the illicit vendors, a DHS representative told the Post they “don’t telegraph future operations,” but invited illegal immigrants to leave voluntarily, adding they should “stay tuned!”
The October Canal Street ICE raid sparked protests in New York City. The raid resulted in the arrest of four allegedly violent rioters, according to the DHS.