NEW YORK -- An immigration enforcement sweep targeting vendors on Manhattan's famed Canal Street turned chaotic on Tuesday after droves of angry New Yorkers surrounded federal agents and attempted to block them from driving off, prompting arrests and fierce standoffs along a bustling downtown corridor.

The confrontation began shortly after 4 p.m., as federal agents fanned out across a section of Chinatown that has long served as a not-so-underground market for knock-off designer handbags, watches, perfumes, electronics and other goods.

An Associated Press reporter observed dozens of agents detaining a street vendor selling bedazzled smartphone cases, one of a number of arrests in the area.

In response, a contingent of protesters, many of whom appeared to be on their way home from work,

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