ICE puts on show of force around Elmhurst Hospital with dozens of unmarked vehicles, masked agents

Two dozen unmasked but known ICE vehicles prowled the streets around Elmhurst Hospital for more than 10 hours on Thursday, Oct. 22, but neighborhood defenders did not witness a single abduction according to Hands Off NYC, a grassroots coalition of more than 250 labor unions, faith leaders and advocacy groups from across the five boroughs to organize nonviolent resistance against federal immigration enforcement. Hands Off NYC said the operation at Elmhurst Hospital, just a block south of Roosevelt Avenue, was one of the largest ICE operations seen in the city since the crackdowns on Canal Street last fall. “Neighbors showed up, blowing whistles, documenting, and alerting the community,” Hands Off NYC Co-Director Rebecca Rodriguez said in a statement. “Meanwhile, ICE’s violent tactics were on full display — agents ran neighbors with their cars, repeatedly threatened to use pepper-spray on neighbors who were documenting, and drove the wrong direction on one-way residential streets