REPORT: Amtrak Police Ran Sting Operation Targeting Public Lewdness, Accidentally Helped ICE

Plainclothes federal officials have been conducting sting operations in New York’s Penn Station bathrooms since June, according to reports.

The Amtrak Police Department (APD) has arrested almost 200 people on allegations of sexual activity in the men’s bathroom, the WYNC reported Sept. 25. They turned over more than 20 of those arrested to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the outlet reported, citing a police officer familiar with the operation.

Due to New York City’s sanctuary city laws, these operations were conducted in the train station’s bathrooms. Amtrack Police are federal law enforcement officers who are not restricted by the city’s sanctuary policies, according to The City.

Amtrak told the outlet it was merely aiming to “reinforce public safety” while “effectively curbing disruptive activity across the station.”

Officers had made 23 arrests for “public lewdness” by the end of June, The City reported.

A Tuesday report by The Baffler alleged that undercover ADP officers flirted with men so they would touch themselves. Undercover officers allegedly filmed men at urinals and arrested a man for wearing a rainbow wristband and taking too long to urinate, reportedly referring to him as a “f*g perv.” The APD also arrested an off-duty NYPD sergeant for allegedly masturbating at a urinal, the outlet claimed.

One of the men arrested was allegedly an asylum seeker who claimed he fled homophobic violence in Ecuador, The Gothamist reported. He alleged officers targeted him for being “very feminine in the way that I walk, that I talk, that I sit,” according to The Gothamist.

Police claimed the man exposed himself in a bathroom in “plain view” in July, the outlet reported, citing a criminal complaint. Amtrak officials denied their officers targeted him because of his perceived sexuality, according to the report.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 28: People prepare to enter Penn Station ahead of the Memorial Day weekend in Midtown Manhattan on May 28, 2021 in New York City. Travel for Memorial Day which has become the unofficial start of summer is expected to increase 60% this year as more restrictions due to COVID-19 are being lifted. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

In 2017, the Legal Aid Society sued the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PAPD), alleging that its police were using entrapment tactics against LGBT individuals in the men’s bathrooms, The Baffler reported.

The Legal Aid Society and the PAPD settled the case in 2022, reaching an agreement “to end the now-paused plainclothes bathroom patrols for good, update sensitivity trainings for new officers and improve the process for filing complaints against officers.”

Those arrested for public lewdness in the summer of 2025 had their charges dropped or were issued a minor fine, The Gothamist reported. However, the individuals turned over to ICE officials may still be subject to deportation.

APD and ICE have not responded to the Daily Caller’s request for comment as of publication.