By Josthyn Ramos
Chants of “¡Chinga la migra!” thundered under the Broadway Bridge Thursday night as hundreds of people marched to NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, where ICE agents had taken a man they shot at Marble Hill Avenue and West 225th Street.
¡Chinga la migra!:
The large crowd descended from the north side of the bridge after a demonstration on Marble Hill, joining another group already gathered outside the hospital.
Some protesters came from as far away as Queens, including Coco from NYC ICE Watch.
As their numbers grew, a blackout car with flashing police lights left the driveway of the emergency entrance. Protesters quickly swarmed and obstructed the car, believing it was an ICE vehicle. The NYPD shoved protesters aside, allowing the car to leave the scene.
“We are here because we unequivocally denounce the presence of ICE in our community, a presence that equals violence, as we saw today,” said Council Member Carmen De La Rosa. “When they are allowed to congregate in our community, we have incidents like this, because they have easier access.”
This is not an isolated incident of ICE disrupting the lives of Marble Hill residents, according to the council member. “We’ve been seeing an increased ICE presence,” said De La Rosa. “Target has been a place where ICE has been increasingly sighted. We have written a letter to the owner of Target, telling him that he should stop the practice of letting ICE congregate.”
Council Member Carmen De La Rosa:
The crowd grew larger. The screeching 1 train above the scene, along with whistles, drumming and chanting of “ICE out,” drowned the NYPD’s attempts to control the situation.
Physical altercations broke out as police attempted to barricade the crowd. Police officers pushed multiple protesters away from the barricades, at times even throwing them to the ground. One of them was recent Democratic congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier.
“It was honestly absolute pandemonium,” said Timmy Facciola, an independent journalist in New York. “I’ve never seen the NYPD this violent during the Mamdani administration. I’ve been covering protests all year.”
Immigrants are welcome here:
Dozens more officers arrived, and tensions began to ease after the NYPD split the crowd into two groups using barricades. However, the anger toward ICE remained intense.
“They’re as bad as any Nazi,” said Coco. “A rogue and lawless agency. All of their trials should be televised when this is over. They were created by an act of Congress, they can be destroyed by an act of Congress.”
The protesters called for a united front against ICE, chanting, “El pueblo unido jamás será vencido.”
