ICE's New York City chief to politicians pushing to abolish the agency: 'Change the law'

The top immigration enforcement official in New York City has a blunt message for politicians demanding the abolition of ICE: change the law rather than demonizing the federal agents who enforce it. Kenneth Genalo, who leads the agency's Enforcement and Removal Operations in the city, issued the challenge in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.

"If you don't like the job we're doing and the priorities and the people that we're targeting, change the law," Genalo said. "Congressional people, senators, representatives. Change the law, don't demonize ICE for doing the job that you empowered us to do."

The remarks came during a recent Fox News Digital ride-along with ICE agents in Brooklyn, where officers arrested two men, one facing a pending felony sexual abuse charge and another who had served seven years in prison for assault, according to the agency.

Genalo's rebuke follows months of escalating pressure. In July, 143 New York elected officials, including 31 of the City Council's 51 members, signed a letter urging congressional Democrats to defund and dismantle ICE, arguing the agency could no longer be reformed. The signatories cited the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis. Newly elected New York Democrat Claire Valdez, who made abolishing ICE part of her congressional platform, was among them, while Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have separately called for dismantling the agency.

Genalo argued that such rhetoric emboldens protesters who interfere with arrests without knowing the criminal histories of those being targeted. During the Brooklyn operation, he said, protesters disrupted agents attempting to apprehend an Ecuadorian national facing child sexual abuse charges. "Why would you protest that we're trying to arrest this individual?" he asked. He added: "We're mothers, we're fathers, we are brothers, we have sisters, sons and daughters, and we're doing our job."

The Brooklyn-born, 34-year law enforcement veteran said restrictions on local cooperation force ICE to pursue suspects on public streets rather than take them into custody in secure jails, exposing officers, suspects and bystanders to avoidable danger. Both men arrested during the ride-along had previously been in local custody but were released despite ICE detainer requests, he said.

Genalo tied his concerns to his experience responding to the Sept. 11 attacks, when he was deployed to ground zero with SRT, and to the 9/11 Commission's findings on failures in cooperation and intelligence sharing. "We should be standing arm-in-arm with our NYPD brethren, helping the city," he said. He noted that ICE once maintained a dedicated unit at Rikers Island that screened the immigration status of foreign-born inmates, taking more than 100 people a week into federal custody before former Mayor Bill de Blasio ended the arrangement. Former Mayor Eric Adams later tried to restore cooperation but faced City Council restrictions, Genalo said.

The confrontation has intensified under Mamdani. On Nov. 2, the mayor threatened legal action over ICE's alleged unauthorized use of city-owned parking lots in a letter addressed directly to Genalo and other federal officials. The Department of Homeland Security rejected the mayor's position in a statement Saturday, saying "no terminated parking will stop ICE from deporting criminal illegal aliens to make New York safe again" and noting that "seven of the 10 safest cities in America cooperate with ICE." DHS also pointed to recent New York City arrests of migrants it identified as public safety threats, including individuals it said had convictions for sexual assault, weapons offenses and robbery.

The fight has extended to the state level. On Nov. 6, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James reminded local governments of a Nov. 25 deadline to terminate agreements allowing their facilities to hold people solely for federal civil immigration detention under the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act. Genalo criticized the legislation, arguing it would extend restrictions on ICE cooperation beyond New York City to the rest of the state.

Genalo also challenged city leaders to put cooperation with ICE on the ballot and let New Yorkers decide, but said the Council refused. "The City Council voted no, they didn't want to do that. I wonder why," he said. "But instead we're getting demonized by politicians, by congressional people, by mayors, by governors, by the media."