Normally, nearly a hundred immigrant men can be found standing on the street alongside General Hart Playground in Woodside, Queens, waiting for jobs. It’s a popular spot for day laborers, where they are picked for roofing, demolition or painting jobs.
But on Sept. 1, federal immigration agents raided the playground, with eyewitnesses telling Documented that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained about eight men. It was the second raid on workers outside the park in three days, witnesses said.
Two days after the raid, on Sep. 3, the street was nearly deserted, with only a few brave men continuing to sit along the side of the park. One of those workers is Angel Valdéz, a 67-year-old immigrant from Mexico who has lived in the U.S. for 23 years. Sitting alongside a fence and reading a book, Valdez told Documented he had never seen so few people waiting for work.
“Before, every day the street is full of people, but right now, nothing,” he told Documented.
Marvin, a 66-year-old Colombian day laborer who has lived in the U.S. for nearly 20 years, witnessed the Sept. 1 raid and said fear is keeping people away. Like many of the workers interviewed for this article, he requested to be identified by only his first name for fear of retaliation by ICE.
“They are coming here to hunt people,” he told Documented. “It’s very hard because these people are coming to try to get some money to send back home to their country. Every day, more than 100 people are here. Now, only a few because they are so scared. They don’t know when immigration is going to show up.”
According to Marvin, ICE targeted the St. John’s Bread and Life mobile soup kitchen, which distributes food every Tuesday morning to the day laborers.
“There is a big truck coming here every Tuesday that comes in from a church in Brooklyn,” he said. “So then they choose that time, and they come to hunt.”
Kenny, a day laborer originally from Tibet, said he also witnessed the raid.
“Two days ago, there were like eight cars,” he told Documented on Sept. 3. “They arrested so many people. They were asking for ID and Social Security. I feel bad because these people come for work.”
There are roughly 10,000 day laborers who call New York home, many of them recent arrivals from Latin America, according to a 2019 City Council survey. Since Donald Trump began his second term, these workers have been on the front lines of the president’s immigration crackdown, with federal immigration officials targeting them in elaborate sting operations. That has created fear and anxiety among many of the workers who have spent years making a living through the construction industry so they could earn enough to send back home to their families.
The raid at General Hart Playground in Woodside occurred on the same day that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin announced the conclusion of “Operation Rotten Apple,” a monthly escalation of immigration enforcement activity across New York that took place between July 27 and August 29 and led to the arrests of 2,197 immigrants across the state, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Overall, more than 19,000 immigrants have been arrested by ICE in New York State since President Trump returned to the White House last year.
Marvin, the Colombian day laborer who was present during the Sept. 1 raid, said ICE arrested at least one worker who was legally authorized to be in the United States.
“They took the one guy, and he got papers, but he only got like a copy,” he said. “So they took him. They don’t pay attention about regulation for people given temporary Social Security, temporary permission to work. They don’t care about that. They say it’s not real.”
A spokesperson for ICE confirmed to Documented that the agency raided the playground on Sept. 1, but denied that the agency detained individuals “indiscriminately.”
Caroline Tweedy, Executive Director of St. John’s Bread and Life, told Documented that her staff witnessed ICE arrest two men after they were thrown against the park’s fence by agents.
“Our staff was not hurt but terrorized, since we are simply there to feed the hungry in our community,” she told Documented. “We are not political in any way and therefore do not feel we were targeted. We will continue to serve those in the community who are hungry.”
Following the report of the raid, City Councilmember Julie Won, whose district includes the neighborhood around General Hart Playground, expressed her outrage.
“Our office received reports that our neighbors were rounded up while waiting in a soup kitchen line,” she said in a statement to Documented. “I heard from my colleagues across the city that ICE agents came out in droves, targeting people with no warrant, singling people out because of their skin color and the language they spoke. This is cruelty unlike any other, and there is nothing else to say except: Abolish ICE.”
Back at Hart Playground, Fabian, a burly-built man from Ecuador, said he’s been working as a day laborer in New York for 15 years. He said he makes between $300 and $800 a day, and is willing and able to do any construction job, from moving to painting to demolition. The work can be dangerous at times, he said, but that is exactly why he believes day laborers are a vital part of this country.
“This is not a job for regular people, only strong people,” he said. “The American people are looking only for easy jobs. We are very necessary for the strong jobs.”
