U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents attempted to raid a Women In Need (WIN) homeless shelter in Brooklyn Tuesday night but were turned away after failing to produce a warrant, according to the New York Daily News.
The shelter's network president Christine Quinn was shown a picture of the individual that ICE agents were looking for when they appeared at nearly 10 p.m.
(1/2) On Tues. night, ICE agents attempted to raid our Brooklyn shelter – when Win staff asked to see a warrant (which they didn’t have) Win refused entry. A great read: https://t.co/Y4zOSMUUOo via @NYDailynews
#humanrights
#ICEraids cc @chriscquinn— Win (@WINNYC_ORG) August 8, 2019
“They showed nothing except for a picture of an individual,” Quinn said. “The guards kept saying, ‘Show us a warrant signed by a judge.’ They wouldn’t show a warrant.”
An ICE spokesperson denied that an enforcement team was sent to the shelter, but security confirmed that eight officers with ICE insignia, who identified themselves as belong to the agency, were present that night.
“Due to law-enforcement sensitivities and the safety and security of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel, the agency will not offer specific details related to enforcement operations," ICE spokeswoman Rachael Yong Yow said to the Daily News.
Quinn believes that the raid on the shelter is connected to a larger plot by the current administration to instill fear in immigrant populations. Her belief dates back to large-scale raids that were announced to take place in major American cities early last month but never occurred.
“Our most basic job at WIN is keeping our clients safe,” Quinn said. “That means keeping them safe from abusers, that means keeping them safe from neighborhood factors and that means keeping them safe from the biggest bully of all — the president of the United States.”
If agents would have been able to produce a warrant, shelter guards would have then been required to send a picture to lawyers with the city's Department of Homeless Services. If they deemed the request actionable, the guards would have then been required to provided access to the facility.
The attempted raid took place one day before a Mississippi food processing plant was the site of the largest immigration raid in the past decade, with 680 arrests, according to USA Today.
