NFL playoff picture Week 13: Bears take NFC's top spot, AFC South changes hands

Every week for the duration of the2025 regular season,USA TODAY Sportswill provide timely updates to theNFL's ever-evolving playoff picture − typically starting Sunday afternoon and then moving forward for the remainder of the week (through Monday's and Thursday's games or Saturday's, if applicable. And, when the holidays roll around, we'll be watching then, too).

What just happened? What does it mean? What are the pertinent factors (and, perhaps, tiebreakers) prominently in play as each conference's seven-team bracket begins to crystallize? All will be explained and analyzed up to the point when the postseason field is finalized on Sunday, Jan. 4.

Here's where things stand withWeek 13underway:

Week 1: Detroit Lions wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa (18) makes a catch for a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers during the fourth quarter at Lambeau Field. The play was originally ruled an incomplete pass, but the call was overturned. Despite TeSlaa's effort, the Packers won the game 27-13.

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Best images of the 2025 NFL season

Week 1: Detroit Lions wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa (18)makes a catch for a touchdownagainst the Green Bay Packers during the fourth quarter at Lambeau Field. The play was originally ruled an incomplete pass, but the call was overturned. Despite TeSlaa's effort, the Packers won the game 27-13.

NFC playoff picture

1.Chicago Bears(9-3), NFC North leaders:With back-to-back victories over winning adversaries − in conjunction with the Rams' stunning loss Sunday − theBearshave now rocketed to the top of the conference. Chicago's 6-2 record in NFC games sends LA (4-3) down a spot.Remaining schedule: atPackers, vs.Browns, vs. Packers, at 49ers, vs.Lions

2.Los Angeles Rams(9-3), NFC West leaders:Carolina snapped their NFC-high six-game winning streak in rainy Charlotte, a loss that dropped LA out of the conference's top spot.Remaining schedule: at Cardinals, vs. Lions, atSeahawks, at Falcons, vs. Cardinals

3.Philadelphia Eagles(8-4), NFC East leaders:Two losses in a row not only mean a lot more scrutiny but − beware − a team that could fall into the Cowboys' clutches in the division if it's not careful.Remaining schedule: at Chargers, vs. Raiders, atCommanders, atBills, vs. Commanders

4.Tampa Bay Buccaneers(7-5), NFC South leaders:They narrowly beat Arizona to narrowly maintain their half-game lead over Carolina in the division.Remaining schedule: vs.Saints, vs. Falcons, atPanthers, atDolphins, vs. Panthers

5.Seattle Seahawks(8-3), wild card No. 1:All three of the 'Hawks' losses are against NFC opponents, including two in the division − defeats that won't serve them well in the tiebreaker department. No matter what happens, Seattle's Week 11 loss to the Rams means they can't move up Sunday ... but the team could fall behind the Niners.Remaining schedule: vs.Vikings, at Falcons, vs. Colts, vs. Rams, at Panthers, at 49ers

6.Green Bay Packers(8-3-1), wild card No. 2:They merely maintained their standing (for now) with their Thanksgiving win at Detroit, but a loss would have dropped them from the field entirely. A thin margin for the Pack to be sure ... yet they remain just a half-game off the NFC North lead, too.Remaining schedule: vs. Bears, atBroncos, at Bears, vs.Ravens, at Vikings

7.San Francisco 49ers(9-4), wild card No. 3:They now have a 1½-game lead on their wild-card pursuers after Sunday's win, but are only a half-game behind the Rams for the NFC West lead.Remaining schedule: BYE, vs. Titans, at Colts, vs. Bears, vs. Seahawks

8.Detroit Lions(7-5), in the hunt:Getting swept by the Packers further entrenches Detroit, which could have moved into a wild-card slot with a Turkey Day win, on the outside of the field. Huge game this Thursday night with Dallas.Remaining schedule: vs. Cowboys, at Rams, vs. Steelers, at Vikings, at Bears

9.Dallas Cowboys(6-5-1), in the hunt:Three wins in a row further fuels playoff aspirations in Big D. Week 14's game in Detroit looms as massive − and potentially must-win − for the Cowboys and Lions.Remaining schedule: at Lions, vs. Vikings, vs. Chargers, at Commanders, atGiants

10.Carolina Panthers(7-6), in the hunt:A shocking upset of the Rams on Sunday reaffirms the Panthers as an outfit to be reckoned with, though they didn't gain any ground in the wild-card or divisional races (on a day when they could have gone into first place had Tampa Bay lost).Remaining schedule: BYE, at Saints, vs.Buccaneers, vs. Seahawks, at Buccaneers

AFC playoff picture

1.New England Patriots(10-2), AFC East leaders:Week 12's narrow defeat of theBengalsgave the Pats the league's best record, moving them past Denver and into the conference's top spot. Good chance they hold onto it when they hit their off week.Remaining schedule: vs. Giants, BYE, vs. Bills, at Ravens, at Jets, vs. Dolphins

2.Denver Broncos(9-2), AFC West leaders:Being idle during Week 12 cost them first place in the conference, but you can bet the break was welcome − especially for a team that will need to be close to fully charged for a brutal four-game stretch at the end of its regular season.Remaining schedule: at Commanders, at Raiders, vs. Packers, vs.Jaguars, at Chiefs, vs. Chargers

3.Jacksonville Jaguars(8-4),AFC South leaders:Their win in Nashville coupled with Indy's loss moves the Jags into first place by virtue of the common-games played tiebreaker, which they own by a one-win advantage. Slide back later, and victories over the Chiefs and Chargers could serve them well when it's time to sort out tiebreakers.Remaining schedule: vs. Colts, vs. Jets, at Broncos, vs. Colts, at Titans

4.Pittsburgh Steelers(6-5),AFC North leaders:Baltimore's Thanksgiving loss restores them to first place. A win over Buffalo on Sunday would help a lot more.Remaining schedule: vs. Bills, at Ravens, vs. Dolphins, at Lions, at Browns, vs. Ravens

5.Indianapolis Colts(8-4),wild card No. 1:They've dropped three of their past four to fall off the conference pace ... and have now ceded first place in the AFC South to Jacksonville after Sunday's loss to Houston. And the schedule doesn't let up the rest of the way out.Remaining schedule: at Seahawks, vs. 49ers, vs. Jaguars, atTexans

6.Los Angeles Chargers(7-4), wild card No. 2:They needed last week off ... and Buffalo's Week 12 loss granted the battered Bolts improved positioning.Remaining schedule: vs. Raiders, vs. Eagles, at Chiefs, at Cowboys, vs. Texans, at Broncos

7.Buffalo Bills(7-4), wild card No. 3:QB Josh Allen took a beating− as did the Bills' hopes of catching the Patriots in the AFC East race in their most recent loss to Houston. A 4-3 record in conference games leaves Buffalo behind the Chargers in the wild-card seeding.Remaining schedule: at Steelers, vs. Bengals, at Patriots, at Browns, vs. Eagles, vs. Jets

8.Houston Texans(7-5), in the hunt:They've won five of six, including four in a row. If they want to win the AFC South for a third straight year, the Texans likely need to sweep the Colts − and they took their first step toward that with Sunday's win at Indy − while continuing their surge.Remaining schedule: at Chiefs, vs. Cardinals, vs. Raiders, at Chargers, vs. Colts

9.Kansas City Chiefs(6-6), in the hunt:Not only will they almost certainly not win the AFC West for the first time since 2015, they could well miss the postseason for the first time since 2014 − Andy Reid's second year in K.C. And don't forget they've lost to the Broncos, Chargers, Bills and Jags, who are all ahead of them.Remaining schedule: vs. Texans, vs. Chargers, at Titans, vs. Broncos, at Raiders

10.Baltimore Ravens(6-6),in the hunt:A sloppy performance against the Bengalscost them first place in the AFC North and a slot in the projected playoff field. Unlike several other squads, the Ravens are also on the wrong side of a head-to-head tiebreaker with Kansas City.Remaining schedule: vs. Steelers, at Bengals, vs. Patriots, at Packers, at Steelers

NFL teams eliminated from playoff contention in 2025

▶New York Giants

▶Arizona Cardinals

▶New Orleans Saints

▶Tennessee Titans

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:NFL playoff picture Week 13: Bears now No. 1 seed in NFC

byNeo

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November 30, 2025

NFL playoff picture Week 13: Bears take NFC's top spot, AFC South changes hands

Every week for the duration of the2025 regular season,USA TODAY Sportswill provide timely updates to theNFL's ever-ev...

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Georgia is new No. 3 behind Ohio State, Indiana in AP Top 25

The Big Ten Conference championship game will be a battle of the top two teams in the Associated Press Top 25 poll as No. 1 Ohio State faces No. 2 Indiana at Indianapolis on Saturday.

Beyond that pair, the top five of the most recent poll Sunday was a bit scrambled with Georgia and Oregon moving up one spot to No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. No. 5 Texas Tech jumped up two spots after a 49-0 blowout victory at West Virginia.

Texas A&M tumbled four spots to No. 7 after the Aggies lost for the first time this season, 27-17 at Texas.

While Miami and Vanderbilt each earned convincing victories, Miami moved up one spot to No. 12, while Vanderbilt dropped a spot to No. 13. No. 14 Texas moved up two spots.

Michigan fell three spots to No. 18 after its 27-9 loss to Ohio State, while James Madision, the highest-ranked Group of Five team, moved up a spot to No. 19.

No. 22 Arizona, No. 23 Navy and No. 25 Missouri all entered the Top 25 this week, while Tennessee, Pittsburgh and SMU fell out of the poll. Navy is set to face Army on Dec. 13.

Associated Press Top 25

1. Ohio State (12-0)

2. Indiana (12-0)

3. Georgia (11-1)

4. Oregon (11-1)

5. Texas Tech (11-1)

6. Ole Miss (11-1)

7. Texas A&M (11-1)

8. Oklahoma (10-2)

9. Notre Dame (10-2)

10. Alabama (10-2)

11. BYU (11-1)

12. Miami (10-2)

13. Vanderbilt (10-2)

14. Texas (9-3)

15. Utah (10-2)

16. Virginia (10-2)

17. USC (9-3)

18. Michigan (9-3)

19. James Madison (11-1)

20. North Texas (11-1)

21. Tulane (10-2)

22. Arizona (9-3)

23. Navy (9-2)

24. Georgia Tech (9-3)

25. Missouri (8-4)

--Field Level Media

byNeo

in

November 30, 2025

Georgia is new No. 3 behind Ohio State, Indiana in AP Top 25

The Big Ten Conference championship game will be a battle of the top two teams in the Associated Press Top 25 poll as ...

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Texans upend Colts 20-16, tightening AFC South race with controversial go-ahead drive

The AFC South isn't where you'd expect to find a definitive answer to that age-old question of irresistible force vs. immovable object. But hey, this has been an odd year in the NFL already, so why not delve into the world of theoretical philosophy?

On Sunday afternoon, at least, the immovable object won out. That would be the Houston Texans and their league-leading total defense (264.3 yards per game), who defeated the Indianapolis Colts and their league-leading scoring offenseby a final score of 20-16. Sunday marked the first game all season that Indianapolis failed to score at least 20 points.

As you'd expect for a game of this nature, the two sides were never separated by more than a single possessional all game. And thanks to Houston's highly controversial touchdown drive in the fourth quarter, this game could be a pivotal one in the race for the AFC South title.

The game saw two teams heading in opposite directions. After a surprising and hot start, Indianapolis has cooled off significantly in recent weeks, losing two of its past three and needing overtime to get a win against Atlanta in Berlin. While Jonathan Taylor remains one of the league's most effective offensive weapons, quarterback Daniel Jones has settled back to Earth in recent games.

Houston, meanwhile, is attempting to become the second team to lose its first three games and still make the playoffs … after the Houston Texans themselves, who also pulled off the feat in 2018. Since losing those first three, Houston had won six of eight coming into Sunday.

Through the first three quarters, the teams exchanged blows and scores — a Houston field goal here, an Indianapolis touchdown there. Through three quarters, the game was tied at 13 … exactly as you'd expect.

Houston's first drive of the fourth quarter is one that will haunt Indianapolis for some time, particularly if the Colts can't secure the division. Over the course of the drive, the Texans appeared to commit an uncalled delay-of-game penalty, and then a questionable pass interference call on third-and-15 gave Houston a fresh set of downs deep in Indianapolis territory. Nico Collins scored on an end-around run

To end the drive on a perfectly enraging note for Colts fans, ahighly debatable extra pointfrom Kai'imi Fairbairn appeared to fly wide to the left, but since the ball sailed above the goalpost, the good/no good call was a judgment rather than an absolute fact.

One Colts field goal later, Indianapolis' defense dug deep and held strong against two straight Houston tush pushes, forcing a turnover on downs with less than five minutes remaining.

That set up a statement drive for both teams' key asset — the Colts' offense and the Texans' defense — and while Indianapolis marched all the way to the Houston 31, the Colts turned over the ball on downs with 1:45 remaining. (A missed extra point earlier in the game proved consequential; the Colts could have potentially kicked a field goal to draw the game level were they not down by four.)

Jones, dealing with the effects of a cracked fibula, finished the game with 201 yards passing and two touchdowns, while Taylor was held to just 85 yards. On the Houston side, C.J. Stroud returned from a three-week injury layoff due to a concussion to throw for 276 yards; Collins and Nick Chubb each rushed for touchdowns on the afternoon.

With the win, Houston (7-5) continues its assault on the standings, tightening up the AFC South and setting up a potential key tiebreaker over Indianapolis (8-4).

One key question for Indianapolis going forward: thestatus of cornerback Sauce Gardner, who suffered a calf injuryjust three plays into the game. Soon afterward, he was in street clothes and a walking boot on the Indianapolis sideline. A surprising pickup from the Jets at the trade deadline, Gardner is one of the game's finest cornerbacks, and any lengthy absence will burden the Colts' defense that much more.

When you factor in theJaguars, who annihilated the Titans on Sundayto move to 8-4, the AFC South is suddenly a highly competitive division, which exactly no one would have predicted when the Colts won seven of their first eight.

Indianapolis has two games remaining against Jacksonville, starting next week, and one more against Houston. The Texans, meanwhile, are done with their divisional play except for that regular-season finale against Indianapolis … which is looking more consequential by the week.

byNeo

in

November 30, 2025

Texans upend Colts 20-16, tightening AFC South race with controversial go-ahead drive

The AFC South isn't where you'd expect to find a definitive answer to that age-old question of irresistible force...

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Here's the biggest news you missed this weekend

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on NBC News' "Meet the Press" Sunday that authorities believe thesuspect in the National Guard shooting was radicalized in the U.S.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal came to the U.S. in 2021, during the Biden administration, but was granted asylum during the Trump administration in April. Before he settled in a quiet part of Washington state, he was part of asecret unit of Afghans who operated under CIA directionand hunted down Taliban commanders in highly dangerous missions.

Some administration officials have claimed without evidence that the Biden administration failed to vet Lakanwal.

But members of these so-called "Zero Units," also known as National Strike Units, were among the most extensively vetted of any Afghans who worked with American forces. CIA officers hailed their bravery, skill and loyalty, and the agency prioritized their evacuation from Afghanistan following the fall of Kabul in 2021 because they were prime targets for the Taliban.

As a member of the force, Lakanwal would have undergone extensive vetting before he joined the Zero Unit and had regular security checks during his tenure, former intelligence and military officials said. Like other refugees, he would have been vetted again, multiple officials said, when he applied for asylum.

Authorities have not provided a motive for the shooting, and a relative of Lakanwal's has said the family cannot fathom why a man who fought alongside Americans in Afghanistan may have carried out such an attack.

But since arriving in the United States, thousands of Afghan veterans have lived in a legal limbo without work permits, struggling to feed their families, according to refugee advocates. Their former CIA and military colleagues appealed to both the Biden and Trump administrations and to Congress to take action to resolve their legal status, warning that the lack of progress was driving some veterans into despair, the advocates said.

FDA claims Covid shots killed 10 children in an internal memo experts say lacks evidence

The director of the Food and Drug Administration's vaccine division told agency staff in a memo that an internal review found that at least 10 children died "after and because of receiving" the Covid vaccine.

The 3,000-word memo,obtained by NBC News, claims that agency staff determined that "no fewer than 10" of 96 child deaths reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, between 2021 and 2024 were "related" to Covid vaccination.

Vaccine experts said the memo was irresponsible and omits key details about how officials arrived at the conclusion because it did not include the children's ages or medical histories, timelines or documentation for the deaths referenced and does not identify the manufacturer of the vaccine. The FDA's findings have not been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

'Meet the Press'

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said on NBC News' "Meet the Press" that President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegsethare "not serious people" in response to their commentsabout a video Kelly and several fellow Democrats made this month urging military and intelligence personnel to "refuse illegal orders."

"This president thinks he can bully and intimidate people, and he is not going to, he's not going to stop me from speaking out and holding him accountable for the things that he does that are wrong and unlawful," Kelly told moderator Kristen Welker.

Officials at the Defense Department this month said they were launching an investigation into Kelly after Trump accused him and several other lawmakers of "seditious behavior," a charge that the president said could be "punishable by death." Trump later walked back his comments.

Still, Kelly said that the video was about the future, not referencing any potential illegal orders that may have already been given.

"We're concerned because of this president, with this secretary of defense, we could have a significant problem. So this was a simple message, 'Follow the law,' and it was looking forward," Kelly said.

Politics in brief

• Boat strike oversight: Both the House and the Senate have started inquiries into a reported second strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean in September that killed the survivors of an initial strike. Meanwhile, Trump said that Venezuela's airspace should be considered "closed."

• Noem denies defying order: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said deportation operations are her decision and denied defying a court order to halt deportation flights to El Salvador this year, attacking "radical decisions" from "activist judges."

• Tricky Dick's comeback? Some of the most influential right-wing figures insist that Watergate was actually an underhanded scheme by the "deep state" to take down Richard Nixon because he was a popular Republican president.

• More university settlements: Northwestern University agreed to pay $75 million in a deal with the Trump administration to end a series of investigations and restore hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research funding.

Ukrainian soldiers see Trump plan as capitulation, even as they dream of peace

From his position on the eastern front lines, the original peace plan backed by President Donald Trump looked more like a proposal for Volodymyr Rzhavskyi's surrender.

"It's not a plan. It's a real capitulation. There is nothing to discuss here," said Rzhavskyi, a senior sergeant serving near Pokrovsk, a supply hub under intense pressure from Russian forces for some 18 months.

While Ukrainian officials fought for changes to the 28-point plan that emerged last week,NBC News spoke with soldiers in the country's embattled militarywho expressed frustration at the idea Moscow would be handed its hard-line demands but also hope that they might soon be able to return to their lives.

• Where talks stand: Top U.S. officials and a Ukrainian delegation had a "very productive" meeting in Florida on Sunday, though "much work remains" to end the war, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

Lane Kiffin leaves Ole Miss on brink of its first playoff appearance to take LSU job

College football's strangest saga of the season is finally over.

Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffinannounced he will take the same job with the LSU Tigers, leaving the seventh-ranked team in the nation for its conference rival.

"After a lot of prayer and time spent with family, I made the difficult decision to accept the head coaching position at LSU," Kiffin wrote in a social media post.

The Tigers job became available after the school fired Brian Kelly in October. Kiffin immediately became heavily rumored to take over, despite the Rebels being in the midst of reaching the College Football Playoff for the first time.

• 'Sunday Night Football': In an already trying season for the Washington Commanders, their next challenge comes in the form of the 9-2 Denver Broncos. NBC News is covering all the action.

• Thieves eye draft picks: Identity thieves have in recent years narrowed in on a particularly lucrative target: athletes on the verge of going pro.

• MLS Cup final set: Lionel Messi's Inter Miami will face Thomas Müller and the Vancouver Whitecaps in next weekend's championship match.

Notable quote

My best friend's mom died unexpectedly, everyone was in shock and sobbing, and I couldn't cry at all. I just felt nothing.

Liana Shatova, a business development manager who wanted to go off antidepressants after 18 months

Antidepressants, primarily selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, are some of the most widely prescribed medications in the United States, taken by tens of millions of adults. But now a "deprescribing" movement isbuilding up in the psychiatry field, aimed at helping patients reduce or stop their medications when no longer considered necessary.

In case you missed it

• British playwright Tom Stoppard, a playful, probing dramatist who won an Academy Award for the screenplay for 1998's "Shakespeare In Love," died at 88.

• Four people were killed and 10 others were hospitalized following a shooting at a California banquet hall where a family was hosting a celebration, authorities said.

• Despite wider economic uncertainty, U.S. shoppers spent a record $11.8 billion online to snag holiday deals on Black Friday, according to Adobe Analytics.

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu submitted a request for a formal pardon amid a yearslong corruption trial, just weeks after President Donald Trump said he should be pardoned.

• Several protesters were arrested in New York City after they blocked streets and exits in an apparent attempt to prevent federal agents from carrying out an immigration raid, according to police and video footage from the scene.

• A 45-car pileup in Indiana and a Delta jet skidding off the runway in Iowa were among the travel disasters stemming from a powerful winter storm on one of the biggest travel days of the year.

byNeo

in

November 30, 2025

Here's the biggest news you missed this weekend

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on NBC News' "Meet the Press" Sunday that authorities believe ...

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How 200 New Yorkers Foiled an ICE Raid Before It Even Began

Immigration activists interact with NYPD as they block a garage used by ICE vans during a protest against a purported ICE raid on Canal Street on November 29, 2025 in New York City. Activists assembled outside of a garage used by ICE and later they tried to block ICE vehicles as they traveled from the garage down Canal Street to the Holland Tunnel to exit Manhattan. Credit - Stephanie Keith—2025 Getty Images

For the second time in just over a month, a large-scale raid by dozens ofimmigration agentsin New York City was met with a similarly large-scale counter-protest. This time, however, the protesters thwarted the authorities' plans before they began.

Multiple arrests were made on Saturday during scuffles on the edge of Chinatown, during which hundreds of protesters faced off with federal agents, eventually supported by the New York Police Department (NYPD), as they prepared to launch araid in the area.

It comes just a month after a raid by 50 federal agents using military-style vehicles stormed nearby Canal Street in Lower Manhattan, and was met with a protest ofhundredsin response.

Read more:Inside Chicago's Battle With Trump

The confrontation also comes amid a reported surge in activity by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the city in recent weeks, despite a friendly encounter between the Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and President Donald Trump earlier this month that appeared to avert a showdown over the issue.

But the mass counter-protest of some 200 people demonstrates the challenges federal authorities will face in enforcing President Trump's hardline immigration agenda in a city that is rooted in its immigrant identity.

Immigration crackdowns in other cities like Chicago and Portland have been met with similar responses from locals opposed to the Trump Administration's immigration crackdown, but New York could prove to be the toughest challenge yet.

Saturday's incident demonstrated how the city's physical infrastructure —its narrow streets and densely populated areas, built mostly by immigrant labor over the last two centuries—can impede ICE's so-called "enforcement surges," which involve large numbers of federal agents conducting sweeping raids, often moving quickly in and out of an area.

Not only are large-scale ICE raids being met by hundreds of protesters, but in two months, New York will be led by an immigrant mayor for the first time in 50 years. Mamdani, who moved to the United States when he was seven years old,campaigned on protectingNew York's immigrant community from these very same raids. He received a boost early in his campaign from a viral moment in which hescreamed at Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, accusing him of abandoning the First Amendment.

A spokesperson from Mamdani's transition team told TIME on Sunday in response to the clashes in Manhattan that the Mayor-elect "has made it clear — including to the President — that these raids are cruel and inhumane, and fail to advance genuine public safety."

"New York City's more than three million immigrants are central to our city's strength, vitality, and success, and the Mayor-elect remains steadfast in his commitment to protecting the rights and dignity of every single New Yorker, upholding our sanctuary laws, and deescalation rather than use of unnecessary force," Monica Klein, a transition spokesperson, added.

'Agitators'in 'goggles'

The confrontation began on Saturday, when agents from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) gathered in a parking garage in a federal building on the edge of Chinatown in preparation for a raid.

Videos of the incidentshow protesters blockingthe agents as theytry to leave the garagein their cars. The crowd then swells to the hundreds, as more NYPD officers arrive.

Later, according to reports, federal agents emerged from the garage and assisted the NYPD in detaining protesters.

The DHS blamed "agitators" for blocking the federal agents in a statement to TIME.

"Following social media posts calling agitators to ICE's location in New York City, individuals dressed in black clothing with backpacks, face masks, and goggles showed up and began to obstruct federal law enforcement officers including by blocking the parking garage," the statement said. "NYPD was called and responded to hundreds of violent rioters, which resulted in the arrest of multiple agitators."

Murad Awawdeh, President of the immigrant advocacy group the New York Immigration Coalition and a member of Mamdani'stransition team, said the protests this weekend were a sign that the city would put up fierce resistance to federal immigration operations.

"New York City is unlike any other place in this country or even the world, and what you have seen yesterday and time and again is that New Yorkers of all stripes, across all creeds, are not going to allow a rogue, lawless, violent and horrific agency to continue to mess with their neighbors," he told TIME.

"I think the message here is that we're all walking each other home together," he added.

The attempted raid in Lower Manhattan comes amid an increase in ICE activity in New York City over the past few weeks. On Oct. 21, in a separate raid on Canal Street, nine people from Africa were taken into custody by ICE agents during what DHS called a "targeted, intelligence-driven enforcement operation…focused on criminal activity relating to selling counterfeit goods." The raid, which involved more than 50 federal agents, also led to the arrest of five protestors after people reportedly attempted to chase federal agents away. The DHS claimed protestors were blocking vehicles and obstructing law enforcement duties.

In recent weeks, ICE agents have been spotted with greater frequency in immigrant neighborhoods of Corona in Queens, Washington Heights in Manhattan, and Sunset Park in Brooklyn.

Activists in those neighborhoods have responded to the increased ICE activity by organizing community alert systems, such ashanding out whistlesto be used when agents are seen in the area. The strategies resemble ICE Watch in other cities hit especially hard by Trump's immigration crackdown,such as Chicago, where groups likeProtect Rogers Parkenlist community members to follow and report onICE activity in the area.

'This is an immigrant city'

Saturday's incident is likely to renew tensions between Mamdani and the Trump Administration over immigration before the Mayor-elect has even taken up his post at City Hall.

Mamdani staked out a firm position on how the city would respond to raids after Tom Homan warned that ICE agents would soon "flood the zone" in New York earlier this month. He also signaled a change in how he wanted the NYPD to deal with federal immigration agents operating in the city after reports that Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, whom Mamdani has announced will keep her position in his administration, was tipped off about the Oct. 21 raid.

"What we will ensure is the NYPD will be delivering public safety, not assisting ICE in their attempts to fulfill the administration's goal of creating the single largest deportation force in American history," Mamdanisaidin an interview posted on Nov. 19.

"This city is also an immigrant city. It's a city that is proud of its immigrant heritage," he said. "And we will protect those New Yorkers."

Mamdani and Trump appeared to avoid major disagreements on the issue during their notoriously friendly Oval Office meeting a few days later.

In that meeting, Mamandi said he and the President spoke about immigration enforcement in New York City.

"We discussed ICE and New York City, and I spoke about how the laws that we have in New York City allow for New York City government to speak to the federal administration for about 170 serious crimes," Mamdani said, standing alongside Trump.

"The concerns that many New Yorkers have are around the enforcement of immigration laws on New Yorkers across the five boroughs, and most recently, we're talking about a mother and her two children, how this has very little to do with what that is," he added.

Trump responded: "What we did is, we discussed crime. More than ICE, per se, we discussed crime. And he doesn't want to see crime, and I don't want to see crime, and I have very little doubt that we're not going to get along on that issue."

Contact usatletters@time.com.

byNeo

in

November 30, 2025

How 200 New Yorkers Foiled an ICE Raid Before It Even Began

Immigration activists interact with NYPD as they block a garage used by ICE vans during a protest against a purported ICE raid on Canal Str...

Read More