ICE attacks Bronx teen, realizes they have wrong guy, dump him bleeding far from home

A 19-year-old in the Bronx was tackled, handcuffed, and left bleeding after federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents mistakenly targeted him in a high-stakes takedown. This incident, which occurred on a Wednesday afternoon at the intersection of Gun Hill Road and Hull Avenue, has left the community concerned about the tactics used by federal authorities. 

The agents approached the New York teen, identified as Jeury Concepcion, while he was standing outside of a local barber shop. NBC News reported that the encounter escalated quickly, something that was captured on multiple videos. It started with a federal agent running toward Concepcion with his gun drawn. 

Initially, Concepcion was visibly confused and turned to talk to the agent. However, as other agents approached, things went sideways. Reportedly, Concepcion was ordered to stop, after which the teen was brought to the ground violently, handcuffed, and then taken away in a vehicle. Only then did the agents realize that they had identified the wrong person. At that point, they simply left the teen at an unfamiliar park and drove away.

It’s crazy that they didn’t even take him to the hospital, considering he was injured

Cellphone footage reveals that when the agents lifted the handcuffed teenager off the ground, there was blood visibly dripping from his head. They even pressed him against a car before placing him into a vehicle.

Concepcion shared that he suffered a concussion during the struggle. Additionally, the agents only asked for his ID and cellphone when he was in the car. That is how the agents realized they had made the error. 

“He told me he’s sorry, that he [was] confusing me with somebody else and that it would never happen again, and that he don’t want me to think they did it,” Concepcion said. “And I told him I’m going to report them.” 

Concepcion said that the agents dropped him off at an unfamiliar park. He was eventually reunited with his mother, who took him to the hospital to receive stitches for his head injury. Unsurprisingly, the family intends to file a formal complaint regarding the incident.

This incident has happened while New York lawmakers have been suggesting legislation to reduce cooperation with immigration operations, causing Border Czar Tom Homan to threaten ‘flooding’ the city with immigration agents. However, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin indicated on Thursday that there is no current plan to surge agents into the state. 

Beyond the immediate physical impact on individuals like Concepcion, the broader consequences of these enforcement strategies are being scrutinized by researchers. According to Forbes, despite administration promises, ICE actions have been harming U.S. and U.S.-born workers. 

A paper by economists Chloe N. East and Elizabeth Cox, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, highlights that ICE activity has failed to deliver on the promise of improving the economic situation for U.S.-born workers. The research suggests that the logic behind these raids is fundamentally flawed. 

Rather than creating more job opportunities for U.S.-born citizens, these enforcement actions often lead to economic disruption. The study found a negative and significant impact on the employment of U.S.-born male workers with a high school education or less, particularly in sectors where undocumented immigrants and U.S.-born workers act as complements rather than substitutes. 

When construction companies, for instance, cannot find enough laborers, they often scale back projects entirely. This, in turn, reduces the need for electricians and managers who are frequently U.S.-born.

The findings from East and Cox challenge the zero-sum view that immigrants and native-born workers are constantly competing for the same limited pool of jobs. Instead, the data indicate that immigrants often boost demand for local services, which supports broader economic stability. 

The research concludes that mass deportation is not a viable policy for improving the welfare of U.S. workers, as it tends to contract labor demand across the board. For now, the Department of Homeland Security is reviewing the incident in the Bronx. 

However, considering their track record of misrepresenting events or outright lying, I’m not holding my breath for justice. After all, not long ago, there was a similar situation, where a man was just tackled and detained without his ID being checked, bringing up questions of racial profiling, just like in this situation.