NYC ICE chief fires back at far-left politicians seeking to abolish agency: 'Change the law'
BROOKLYN, N.Y.– New York City's top immigration enforcement official has a blunt message for far-left politicians demanding the abolition of ICE: Change the law instead of demonizing federal agents who put their lives on the line enforcing it.Kenneth Genalo, who leads ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in New York City, issued the challenge during an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, taking aim at elected officials who have increasingly called to dismantle the agency."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 in Brooklyn, where agents arrested two men, including one facing a pending felony sexual abuse charge, and another who had served seven years in prison for assault, according to ICE.INSIDE ICE'S HIGH-STAKES RAIDS TARGETING ILLEGAL MIGRANTS IN NYC AS CHIEF RIPS SANCTUARY LAWSKenneth Genalo, ICE's top New York City enforcement official, reviews operational information inside an unmarked SUV during an exclusive Fox News Digital ride-along in Brooklyn on Oct.
29, 2026.(Fox News Digital)Genalo's rebuke comes amid a widening campaign to abolish ICE and increasingly heated rhetoric directed at federal immigration agents.In July, no less than 143 New York elected officials, including 31 of the city's 51 Council members, signed a letter urging congressional Democrats to dismantle the agency, accusing ICE of widespread abuses and portraying it as a threat to public safety and democracy.The signatories argued that ICE could no longer be reformed and urged congressional Democrats to defund and dismantle it.
They also cited the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration enforcement officers in Minneapolis as evidence of what they described as th...