The NYPD launched a grand search operation at the Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center on Randall’s Island Friday morning, aiming to find and remove any dangerous contraband. Migrants were asked to leave the shelter and were kept outside for several hours during the search.

"They just asked us to come out - that was at 10 a.m.," said Ibrahim Kaba, a migrant from West Africa.

Kaba, along with many others, crowded outside the shelter's perimeter as NYPD K-9 units and officers conducted the search. No one was allowed in or out during this time. Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry announced the search on social media, emphasizing the safety and security of everyone in the shelter as their top priority. The NYPD confirmed that the search was aimed at finding any stashed weapons or drugs.

"If you leave your stuff, they will steal it, your phone, sometimes they fight, they will stab you," Kaba said, describing the violence he has witnessed in the month he has been at the shelter.

Despite the disruption, Kaba supports the search.

"It’s good for us. It protects us. We don’t know what's inside, so if they have guns or drugs, taking that out is good for us," he stated.

However, The Legal Aid Society condemned the search, calling it "draconian" and harmful to the migrants. They argue that such actions only increase the trauma experienced by the residents.

A few hours into the operation, the search was halted. A source close to the NYPD revealed that officials did not have proper search warrants to open migrants’ personal belongings.

This search comes just a few days after the police confiscated illegal vehicles on the island.