City and state officials say that federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted an operation on Tuesday morning in Syracuse’s East Side. 

ICE, though, has not provided details on what their activity entailed, or even if ICE agents detained any individuals, according to spokespeople for both the city and the Syracuse Police Department.

Around 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Councilor Corey Williams saw what City Hall soon learned were federal agents outside 1000 Ackerman Ave. in Syracuse’s University Neighborhood, Williams said. The councilor said what he saw looked unusual, and inquired about the sighting to City Hall.

City and SPD officials said ICE has refused to provide the police and the mayor’s office with any details about the “operation,” which an agency spokesperson said to the officials was part of an ongoing criminal investigation. 

Central Current reached out to ICE to inquire about the operation. The agency replied that a public affairs officer would respond to the inquiry, but did not do so by the time of publication. An ICE spokesperson on Sunday evening responded to Central Current’s inquiry, but did not respond to questions about the agency’s “operation.”

“For reasons of operational security, ICE does not confirm or discuss the status of current or ongoing operations,” the ICE spokesperson said. “The agency publicly announces the results of operations when appropriate.”

City of Syracuse spokesman Greg Loh said the city specifically asked ICE for the locations of its agents’ activity, and if the operation resulted in any individuals being detained. 

“They would not provide any information whatsoever on whether there were any apprehensions,” Loh said. “We’ve had no reports of any detentions. So all we know is we haven’t had any other reports of any detentions or apprehensions.”

Loh said that Mayor Ben Walsh and Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens drove by the property where Williams observed the agents later that morning, but didn’t observe any ICE activity outside.

Syracuse Police Department spokesperson Kieran Coffey said that SPD Deputy Chief Richard Trudell also contacted ICE for confirmation on the activity at 1000 Ackerman Ave. ICE confirmed the agents that Williams observed were indeed ICE agents – but the agency did not provide SPD with any other information, Coffey said.

Loh said the city has followed up again with ICE, but has yet to receive a response.

The ICE operation follows other Department of Homeland Security operations in and around Central New York. 

In March, U.S. Border Patrol agents stirred Syracuse’s Westcott community when they arrested four Mexican nationals in the Rise N Shine diner parking lot. 

A video of the incident showed local law enforcement leaning on a patrol car and watching as the federal agents, some in plainclothes, detained four men and loaded them into an unmarked van.

In June, ICE agents rattled the small village of Camden when they barged into China Moon, a restaurant loved by locals, and detained the well-respected restaurant owner Jian Hao Zhang, who had lived in Camden for decades. 

On Sept. 4, agents from ICE and other federal immigration agencies – with support from Cayuga and Oswego County Sheriff’s deputies – besieged a food production plant in Cato, New York. 

The federal agencies said that raid was part of a criminal investigation targeting violent criminals, but advocates and lawyers say most of the people DHS detained had a legal immigration status, work permits, and pending immigration cases. Federal investigators say they’ve charged five of the detained individuals with a felony for illegally entering the country after being deported.

The massive raid at the Nutrition Bar Confectioners plant in Cato has left a dozen children without one or both of their parents.

Those recent operations prompted a Wednesday evening meeting between local, regional and federal representatives and activists hosted by State Senator Chris Ryan, a Democrat representing the State Senate’s 50th District. That district covers Oswego County and parts of Onondaga County.

Ryan told Central Current that while the recent ICE activity in Central New York has created fear and uncertainty, it has also underscored the importance of solidarity. 

“Now is the time for us to come together — to share resources, provide support, and ensure that our neighbors are treated with dignity and fairness,” Senator Ryan said. “By working hand in hand, we can make sure Central New York remains a place where every family and every person feels safe and welcome.” 

Jessica Maxwell, the executive director of Workers Center CNY, confirmed that ICE agents have been operating around Syracuse throughout the week, including the Tuesday morning sighting on Ackerman. Maxwell was one of the stakeholders who attended the meeting. 

Maxwell also tamped down a rumor circulating on social media that ICE was reportedly planning to conduct a “major operation” in Syracuse on Thursday.

“No one at that meeting shared any kind of information about a major operation in Syracuse,” Maxwell said.

Syracuse has yet to see the full extent of president Donald Trump’s deportation agenda, but the city is seemingly on the White House’s radar. In May, the Department of Homeland Security included Syracuse on a list of New York State “sanctuary” jurisdictions that the department accused of violating immigration law. 

Former Syracuse mayor Stephanie Miner declared Syracuse a “sanctuary city,” but mayor Ben Walsh has distanced the city from that characterization, instead calling Syracuse – a city home to more than 20,000 foreign-born residents – a “welcoming city.”

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem accused Syracuse and the other listed cities and counties of endangering Americans to protect “violent illegal criminal aliens.” 

Maxwell and Workers Center CNY will join other advocates at a press conference Friday morning in Fulton, NY’s Voorheis Park “to expose the cruelty and rights violations” of federal agents, per a Thursday press release.

Leaders from Rural & Migrant Ministry, Finger Lakes Rapid Response, Organize Oswego, and Syracuse Immigrant and Refugee Defense Network will share stories from families reeling from the Cato raid and explain how concerned community members can provide support.

“Every family, and every person who is here — who belongs here; those with work authorization papers, who are members of our society, who are paying taxes, who keep our businesses going, who are our community partners — should not fear being detained or deported because of the color of their skin or the language they speak,” Ryan said.

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Patrick McCarthy is a staff reporter at Central Current covering government and politics. A graduate of Syracuse University’s Maxwell and Newhouse Schools, McCarthy was born and raised in Syracuse and...