Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
A summer surge in ICE arrests in NYC and NJ, mostly of people with no criminal history
By
Arya Sundaram
Published Aug 27, 2026
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Douglas Rissing/Getty Images
By
Arya Sundaram
Published Aug 27, 2026
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the New York City area and New Jersey have surged this summer, driven largely by an increase in the number of people arrested without criminal records, according to newly published data.
ICE agents in New Jersey arrested 2,080 people in July, the highest total in at least four years, according to a Gothamist analysis of agency data obtained via records requests by the Deportation Data Project, an academic group. The vast majority — 72% — had no criminal record or pending charges, according to the data.
In the New York City area, ICE agents arrested 919 people in July, nearly double the number arrested in April, the low mark for the year. Over three-quarters of arrestees in July had no criminal history.
While the ICE arrests in the New York City area mark a steep increase, they are no high-water mark. In June 2025, ICE arrested 1,033 people in the city, more than any other month since at least October 2022. There was another ICE arrest surge in the New York City area last fall, peaking in November, when the agency arrested 992 people.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, claimed that the Deportation Data Project “cherry-picked” the data. The spokesperson added that the Trump administration continues to pursue the “worst of the worst” criminals.
The new data confirms what immigration advocates and others have suspected in recent weeks, based in part on an uptick in calls to local hotlines for ICE sightings. The surge in arrests comes as the Trump administration employs new deportation tactics and makes expanded use of other measures.
The tactics include holding mass immigration court hearings where hundreds of cases are held at once, allowing a lapse in funding for immigration lawyers assisting unaccompanied minors, and curtailing humanitarian immigration protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants, including from Haiti and Syria, previously authorized to remain in the country.
Murad Awawdeh, the president of the New York Immigration Coalition, a statewide nonprofit, said in statement that the increase in ICE arrests “is in line with the administration's single-minded focus on a deportation agenda no matter the cost to the American economy or the lives of those caught up in this cruel system.”
“When our neighbors are afraid to go to work, take their children to school, seek medical care, report crimes, or interact with government agencies, it makes all of us less safe and our communities less caring,” Awawdeh said in the statement. “New York must continue to reject the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda and ensure that local resources are not used to facilitate federal immigration enforcement."
Earlier this year, New York state legislators passed new “sanctuary” protections barring police agencies from entering into formal cooperation agreements with federal immigration enforcement, though they stopped short of barring more informal cooperation between local police and ICE.
Tagged
Race And Justice Unit
immigration
new jersey
new york
Arya Sundaram
Arya is a reporter covering race and justice. Got a tip? Email: [email protected] or reach Arya on Signal at 512-650-8767.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Fox that may have rabies on the loose on Staten Island, officials say
State officials are searching for the fox at Mount Loretto and urging visitors to avoid wildlife.
By
Giulia Heyward
Published Aug 30, 2026 at 2:55 p.m. ET
Brooklyn nurse killed by hit-and-run driver walking home from shift at NYU Langone
Police say Jiayi Zheng, 28, was just a block away from the hospital when she was killed by a driver on a notorious stretch of Third Avenue.
By
Michael Sol Warren
News
Brooklyn nurse killed by hit-and-run driver walking home from shift at NYU Langone
Police say Jiayi Zheng, 28, was just a block away from the hospital when she was killed by a driver on a notorious stretch of Third Avenue.
By
Michael Sol Warren
2 dead, 9 wounded in mass shooting at unlicensed block party in Trenton, NJ
By
Michael Sol Warren
Lush City: Plants are blooming from every crack and crevice in NYC this summer
By
Liam Quigley
Bid farewell to summer by looking to the stars in September
By
Rosemary Misdary
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .