A predawn ICE operation in Brooklyn offered a rare look at the surveillance, waiting and split-second decisions behind federal street arrests. Ken Genalo, the head of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations in New York City, used the ride-along to unload on Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the City Council over sanctuary policies he says put officers and the public at risk.
Fox News Digital joined agents last Thursday as more than a dozen armed officers gathered before dawn, checked their gear and attached body cameras to their vests. Commanders warned that one target might be armed, while another was an amateur boxer. After weeks of surveillance, agents were looking for the right moment to move in. Apparently, even an arrest requires a carefully managed morning commute.
The first target was Nika Tkeshelashvili, 40, a Georgian national whom ICE said entered the United States illegally through the southern border in January 2023. He was arrested in September on a first-degree sexual abuse charge, which remains pending. Agents believed he regularly left his apartment between 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. to move his car and avoid a parking ticket.
Agents studied that routine as part of what they call a “pattern of life.” At 7:57 a.m., Tkeshelashvili finally emerged. Officers quickly converged, handcuffed him and moved him into an unmarked SUV. The arrest was over in seconds. Genalo called it “textbook” and “flawless,” crediting the team’s timing, intelligence and surprise.
The second arrest was far more difficult. Yves Frantz Augustine, 45, a Haitian national, entered the country legally in 1997 but overstayed his visa. ICE said he was ordered deported in 2006 and later accumulated a criminal record that included an assault conviction, weapons offenses and a terroristic threat case. He served seven years in prison for assault. An earlier deportation attempt failed after Haiti did not issue the necessary travel documents, according to Genalo.
Agents waited until Augustine dropped a child off at school before approaching him. At about 8:26 a.m., officers surrounded him near a closed storefront.
“Don’t move! Police! Let me see your hands!” one officer shouted. Another said, “We have a warrant for your arrest!” Augustine resisted as officers tried to place him in handcuffs. He later pleaded, “Think about my kids,” asked to call his wife and claimed he was now a U.S. citizen. An officer showed him the warrant before placing him in the SUV. The arrest took roughly four minutes.
Genalo said both men had previously been in local custody, but New York authorities did not hand them over despite ICE detainer requests. He argued that sanctuary rules force federal agents to hunt suspects on busy city streets instead of taking custody at local jails.
“100% all of this is about politics. It is not about public safety,” Genalo said. He also declared, “We don’t kidnap people, we don’t disappear people. We arrest people.”
The operation came amid wider tensions after Mamdani released a Spanish-language video advising New Yorkers on responding to ICE agents. ICE also arrested nearly 2,200 illegal migrants during an August statewide crackdown known as Operation Rotten Apple.
Genalo blamed city leaders and anti-ICE protesters for making enforcement more difficult, while still saying he was willing to work with Mamdani. “I just wish we could sit down and collaborate and come to an agreement because we have the same job to do, and that’s to keep the people of the community of New York City safe,” he said. For now, the street arrests continue, and so does the political fight over who is actually protecting New Yorkers.
Leave a Comment