POLITICS: ICE clearing Canal Street of illegal street vendors improves the quality of life in NYC

Illegal immigrants selling illegal counterfeits were cleared from Canal Street — but to New York City Council Member Justin Brannan, I’m the problem. 

Two days before the raid, a video I posted in the area went viral.

Brannan was furious, labeling me a “far-right poverty tourist.” 

No, I’m a person who cares about the quality of life in this city. 

A brief look into the nine migrants who were arrested on Tuesday will show that these weren’t simply street vendors.

They are in fact tied to crimes such as drug trafficking, robbery, forgery, possession of drugs, burglary, assaulting law enforcement, counterfeiting and domestic violence. 

They crowd the sidewalks, ­undercut legitimate business owners and harass tourists and locals. 

These aren’t people struggling with poverty, as Brannan claims.

Nor are they valiant “street vendors,” as Zohran Mamdani says.

They are con artists and they make our streets more dangerous. 

NYC the epicenter 

New York has been the epicenter of America’s illegal-immigration crisis.

Since 2022 roughly 220,000 illegal immigrants have made their way to New York City, costing taxpayers upwards of $7 billion since the crisis began. 

I’ve watched these migrants receive free hotel rooms in Times Square, free plane tickets to travel across the US and free MetroCards, food and medical care, while homeless New Yorkers sleep on the streets. 

The reality is, New York’s illegal-immigration crisis is still one of the worst in the country, and Canal Street is the symptom of a larger issue. 

I think most New Yorkers are happy to see their streets finally getting cleaned up and are continuing to push for basic law and order on the streets of their city.

It’s the politicians who are out of touch. 

Savanah Hernandez is a reporter and contributor for Turning Point USA. X: @sav_says_