Imagine walking down a bustling New York street, only to find it transformed into a chaotic marketplace of unlicensed vendors blocking your path.
On Canal Street in Chinatown, this frustrating scene has become all too common, drawing attention from a Texas-based MAGA influencer, Savanah Hernandez, whose viral video may have spurred a federal crackdown by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) just days later, as New York Post reports.
Hernandez, known for her coverage of New York’s immigration challenges since 2023, posted a hard-hitting video on Sunday, October 20, 2025, showcasing the disorder caused by unauthorized vendors on Canal Street.
Her footage painted a stark picture of sidewalks overrun with sellers hawking knockoff goods and stolen items, a persistent problem that has long plagued legitimate local businesses, as frequently noted by The Post.
In her post on X, Hernandez didn’t hold back, directly tagging ICE and the Department of Homeland Security to urge action on the deteriorating situation.
“Perhaps @ICEgov should go check this corner out,” she wrote on X, a pointed nudge to federal authorities that seemed to resonate louder than expected (Hernandez, X).
Just two days later, on Tuesday, October 22, 2025, ICE agents descended on Canal Street, rounding up nine individuals engaged in the unlicensed vending operations.
The arrested, identified as Mamadou Ndoye, Muhammad Ndiaye, Sergigne Diop, Amadou Diallo, Bokar Soko, Alioune Sy, Modou Mboup, Idy Sarr, and Aboubakar Diakite, were found to have prior criminal records in most cases, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
While the raid brought temporary relief, it’s worth asking if this is merely a Band-Aid on a deeper wound—after all, NYPD’s quality-of-life units have swept the area before, only for the vendors to return like clockwork.
Speaking to The Post, Hernandez didn’t shy away from comparing Canal Street’s chaos to similar scenes she witnessed while reporting on immigration issues abroad.
“The reason this street caught my eye was because I was recently reporting on the illegal immigration crisis in Paris, and Canal Street looked the same,” Hernandez told The Post, highlighting a troubling parallel that should give any New Yorker pause (Hernandez, The Post).
Local merchants, meanwhile, echoed her concerns, with one frustrated storeowner lamenting the vendors’ brazen takeover of public space on Wednesday, October 23, 2025.
“They take over the sidewalk,” the merchant fumed, capturing the exasperation of those who just want to run their businesses without playing referee to unchecked street commerce (Merchant, The Post).
This incident isn’t just about a single street—it’s a snapshot of a larger struggle over immigration policy and public order that conservatives argue has been mishandled by progressive agendas prioritizing open borders over community well-being; yet, one must acknowledge the complex human stories behind each vendor, even as we demand accountability.
Hernandez’s video, whether directly tied to the ICE raid or not, has reignited a necessary conversation about how to balance enforcement with fairness, proving that sometimes a single voice—amplified by social media—can cut through the noise of bureaucracy and force a reckoning on issues too long ignored.
