Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) asked New York City Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Tuesday to investigate a Nov. 12 Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation that injured two police officers.
The injuries followed a police response to calls from northern Manhattan residents who claimed they saw armed individuals wearing sweatshirts apprehending people in their cars, as stated by an NYPD spokesperson. The reason for the officers’ injuries is unknown.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Goldman’s office, the NYPD, and the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
“This improper conduct by ICE has placed NYPD in the impossible position of having to distinguish armed federal agents from criminal actors in real time,” Goldman wrote to Tisch, who will continue to serve in her role under New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. “Now, this grossly egregious conduct has created safety risks not only for the public, but for your officers, who are forced to respond.”
Prior to the injuries, the officers witnessed a group of people who they did not know were ICE officers pursuing an individual on foot in the neighborhood. The officers then realized the men were ICE officers.
In his letter, Goldman inquired about the protocol in place for NYPD officers to respond to federal law enforcement: “Has your Department issued guidance or protocol to officers advising them how to respond to federal agents operating without visible identifiers or markings during enforcement operations or actions? If so, please provide such guidance.”
The congressman also expressed his concerns over the agent’s failure to identify themselves as being with ICE. “Has your Department raised concerns related to public safety stemming from federal officials failing to identify themselves directly to the Department of Homeland Security? If so, please provide details about your concerns and any response you received,” he wrote.
The letter is under review by the department, NYPD Executive Director of Communications Brad Weeks stated.
Goldman’s letter follows his previous remarks on the city’s sanctuary city laws, in which he stated that the Mamdani administration must alter the city statute to allow local law enforcement to intervene in the operations of federal agents that violate local law.
“The most important thing is for the NYPD to change its approach,” Goldman said on Oct. 21, adding that the NYPD should be allowed to “intervene to protect New Yorkers from the lawlessness that ICE is repeatedly and consistently demonstrating as part of [President] Donald Trump’s fascist immigration dragnet.”
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Goldman made his remarks in a letter to Tisch a day earlier, asking the city to “strictly enforce” the law against lawbreaking federal agents.
“I write to request that the New York City Police Department (NYPD or Department) be prepared to strictly enforce state and local laws in order to hold federal agents accountable for any unlawful actions they engage in, including potentially through arrest and prosecution for felony violations,” he wrote.
