Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday issued an open call, urging the public to submit photos and videos of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to a newly established “portal to review federal immigration enforcement in New York.” This announcement follows a recent ICE raid on Canal Street in New York City, which resulted in the arrest of nine individuals who were in the country illegally and had criminal histories. The portal is designed to collect evidence from witnesses and ensure accountability in federal immigration operations.
“We’re launching a portal to review federal immigration enforcement in New York following yesterday’s ICE raid on Canal Street,” James wrote on the social media platform X. She emphasized that New Yorkers who were present during the raid should submit any videos or photos they captured, and her office would thoroughly review and investigate potential violations of the law. “Every New Yorker has the right to live without fear or intimidation,” she said, adding, “If you witnessed and documented ICE activity yesterday, I urge you to share that footage with my office. We are committed to reviewing these reports and assessing any violations of law. No one should be subject to unlawful questioning, detention, or intimidation.”
James’s announcement comes just two days after Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA) revealed that Democrats on the House Oversight Committee plan to introduce what he described as a “master ICE tracker” to monitor federal immigration enforcement activities across the country. “I shared this with the mayor (Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass),” Garcia said. “Over the next couple of weeks, the Oversight Committee will be launching on their website a comprehensive ‘master ICE tracker.’ We will be essentially tracking every single instance that we can verify regarding the location and actions of ICE agents.”
During a press conference on Wednesday, Representative Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) criticized ICE agents for wrongly detaining four U.S. citizens during the Canal Street raid. According to Goldman, these citizens were held for “nearly 24 hours” without any charges, a practice he described as “lawless terror.” He argued that similar incidents have occurred in other cities, where local authorities reported that federal immigration agents bent the law and abused civilians in the name of enforcement.
In San Francisco, where city officials are preparing for a potential influx of ICE personnel, Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stated that “state and local authorities may arrest federal agents if they break California law.” However, legal experts note that the issue of states arresting federal officers remains legally complicated. Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of U.C. Berkeley School of Law, explained that if ICE agents are acting within their legal authority, states cannot prosecute them even if they disagree with the agents’ actions. But if federal officers exceed their authority and violate state law in the process, they could face prosecution and legal consequences.
While Attorney General James has been actively addressing immigration enforcement concerns, she also faces unrelated legal challenges. She is scheduled to appear in a federal courtroom in Virginia on Friday to respond to allegations of mortgage fraud. James was indicted earlier this month after prosecutors claimed she provided false information on a mortgage application to obtain favorable loan terms for a property in Virginia that she later rented out.
The indictment, issued by a federal grand jury, involves a single-family home in Norfolk, Virginia, which James co-purchased in August 2020 for approximately $137,000. Most of the purchase price was financed through a $109,600 loan that explicitly prohibited the property from being used as a rental or investment. Prosecutors allege that James misrepresented the home as a second residence, which allowed her to secure a lower interest rate and ultimately save “approximately $18,933 over the life of the loan,” according to a five-page federal filing.
The case was referred to the Department of Justice earlier this year by Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte, triggering a criminal investigation that culminated in the indictment. While her office continues to oversee immigration enforcement matters in New York, the mortgage fraud case adds another layer of legal scrutiny to James’s career, highlighting the complex and high-profile nature of her public role.