Mayor: Crackdown on immigrants already underway in NYC

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says he’s getting reports that a nationwide crackdown on immigrants facing deportation is already underway in his city.

The sweeps were expected to start Sunday, but de Blasio tweeted on Saturday that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency had already taken action in New York.

The mayor says ICE agents did not succeed in rounding up any residents of Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighbourhood and Harlem.

Immigrants who’ve been given orders to leave the country are government targets in at least 10 cities.

Advocates are coaching them on their rights, including instructions not to respond if agents knock on the door unless shown a warrant signed by a judge.

The Democratic mayor has said his city would not co-operate with ICE.