Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Nearly 40K and counting: Here’s where ICE arrested immigrants across NY and NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
Published Oct 7, 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 .
Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images
By
Arya Sundaram
Published Oct 7, 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
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has conducted more than 19,500 arrests in New York state and nearly 18,000 in New Jersey during President Donald Trump’s second term, according to new government data. Those arrests are largely of Latin American immigrant men without criminal histories.
The arrests during Trump’s roughly first 18 months in office mark a surge in immigration enforcement. The sum between the two states is more than double the number of ICE arrests made in the prior 18-month period under President Joe Biden. The combined total roughly exceeds the populations of the New York cities of Ithaca, Poughkeepsie or Rome.
The majority of the immigrants arrested in the two states, who were generally detained for alleged immigration violations, have also since left the country: More than 41% have been deported, and another 22% chose to depart after being arrested, the data shows.
News reports and viral videos have long chronicled ICE arrests at immigration courthouses, at federal immigration offices, and on the streets across both states. But the newly released ICE data obtained through public records requests by the academic group Deportation Data Project and analyzed by Gothamist reveals more details than were previously known about the local reach of Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Immigration enforcement has touched all regions of the states, with arrests concentrated in major cities but also small towns with federal offices, prisons and large Latino communities, the data shows.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson touted the arrest totals as evidence of the success of Trump’s immigration crackdown, adding that the agency only arrests immigrants who are residing in the country unlawfully. But New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, commenting on the toll of ICE arrests across the five boroughs, has accused the agency of “terrorizing people, no matter their immigration status, no matter the facts of the law, no matter the facts of the case.”
He added: “And I'm tired of waking up every day and seeing a new image of someone being dragged out of a car, dragged out of their home, dragged out of their life.”
Here’s what else to know about ICE arrests in New York and New Jersey:
NYC is an epicenter of ICE arrests — but Nassau and Erie counties were also targeted
Nearly half of all ICE arrests in New York state under Trump’s second term — more than 8,800 — took place in New York City, according to the data.
While New York City has been the epicenter of ICE arrests in the state, some counties beyond the five boroughs also recorded thousands of immigration arrests. They include Nassau County on Long Island and Erie County in Western New York. ICE recorded about 2,000 arrests in each.
One factor driving the arrest totals in New York City and Buffalo, in Erie County: both are home to ICE field offices for Enforcement and Removal Operations, the ICE division tasked with identifying and arresting immigrants who lack legal authorization to remain in the country.
Both cities are also home to ICE check-in offices and immigration courts where, under the Trump administration, federal immigration officers have regularly arrested immigrants appearing for routine appointments and hearings.
Queens has been a major hotspot of ICE arrests
Details about where the vast majority of arrests in New York City took place are scant. Records for nearly 5,400 arrests in the city don’t specify the borough or neighborhood where the arrests occurred. In those cases, the arrest location was often simply marked as “New York.”
But for arrests where more granular location data was noted, Queens — where nearly half of residents were born abroad — emerged as a major hotspot of ICE arrests.
According to the data, at least 2,202 ICE arrests took place in Queens— the most of any county listed in the data. Another 555 arrests occurred in Brooklyn, 514 in the Bronx, 115 on Staten Island, and 61 in Manhattan.
Within Queens, the most ICE arrests took place in the neighborhoods of Jamaica, Corona, and Flushing, according to the data. The arrests in Jamaica appear to include at least some of those that have taken place at JFK airport.
Some 473 arrest records were also marked “Queens” but did not mention the specific neighborhood where the arrest occurred.
Thousands of arrests in Newark
Newark was the New Jersey city with the most arrests by far, at nearly 4,500. It is home to a federal immigration court and ICE check-in office.
Other cities with immigration courts and ICE check-in offices were among the top locations for ICE arrests in New Jersey, according to Gothamist’s analysis. Elizabeth, which also houses an immigration court, recorded the second-highest number of arrests in the state, just over 1,100. Mount Laurel, home to another ICE check-in office, had the third-highest number of arrests in the state.
The fourth-highest location for arrests was Fort Dix, a U.S. Army base that’s home to a federal prison where hundreds of prisoners have been transferred into ICE custody. Other top arrest sites include Plainfield, Kearny and Freehold, all of which have majority-Hispanic or Latino populations.
Nassau County is another major ICE arrest hotspot
In New York, outside of New York City, the municipality with the most ICE arrests was Hempstead in Nassau County, where the federal agency has conducted 1,115 arrests.
Some 275 of those arrests were marked as occurring in “Hempstead,” though the data does not specify if the arrests took place in the town of Hempstead or the village of Hempstead, which is located within the town.
The village is 45% Hispanic or Latino, and the town is 22%, according to Census data, making the area home to some of the largest Latino populations on Long Island. Other major arrest locations include Mineola, Freeport and East Meadow.
Oyster Bay in Nassau County is the municipality with the fifth-highest number of ICE arrests in New York state, more than 520 under Trump’s second term, following Rochester and Buffalo.
Of those arrests, 345 took place in Bethpage, which is home to an asylum office run by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency overseeing lawful immigration to the country. Gothamist has previously reported on ICE arrests taking place at this office, including of a New York City Council data analyst whose arrest was criticized by top state and local officials. The analyst was later granted asylum.
Shortly after Trump took office in January 2025, Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman announced a partnership with federal authorities that would allow local law enforcement officers to help arrest and deport undocumented immigrants. Blakeman recently ended that agreement after the passage of a state law banning such partnerships.
Other hot spots in towns with ICE check-in offices, prisons or large Latino populations
ICE arrests at ICE check-in offices, where immigrants without permanent legal status are often required to appear for processing, have been a key tool in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in New York. And the data bears that out.
Champlain and Ballston, small towns with ICE check-in offices, are among the top 15 municipalities for ICE arrests in New York state, where hundreds of immigrants have been arrested. Other check-in offices are in New York City and Buffalo, also major arrest hot spots.
Another small town in Erie county, Alden, had the sixth-highest number of ICE arrests in New York state, with 478 such arrests in the town during Trump’s second term. The vast majority of individuals arrested there are transferred from the custody of another law enforcement agency, likely from the Erie County jail or state prison, Wende Correctional Facility, located in the town.
Other ICE arrest hot spots include several other towns with large Latino populations. The town of Islip in Suffolk County, which had the 10th highest number of ICE arrests in the state, is 38% Hispanic or Latino. The vast majority of arrests in the town of Rye, 15th on the list, took place within the village of Port Chester, which is 58% Hispanic or Latino. Many arrests in the town of Babylon, 17th on the list, also took place in villages or hamlets with large Latino populations. In the town’s hamlet of Copiague, 45% of residents are Hispanic or Latino, and in Wyandanch, that number is 39%.
Many places saw a summer surge, but previous spikes as well
This summer, ICE arrests surged in many places across New York, including New York City, Buffalo, Rochester and Albany — mirroring a national trend.
But many municipalities and counties also experienced earlier spikes in ICE arrests.
In Queens, ICE arrests spiked in the winter and spring before reaching new heights this summer. In Nassau County, a winter spike in arrests was followed by a summer decline; a similar trend followed in Suffolk County, with a fall surge coming before a summer drop-off.
What’s next? The Washington Post reported in September that the Trump administration is looking to hire 5,000 ICE personnel in coming months, offering signing bonuses and dropping hiring standards in the process.
Tagged
Race And Justice Unit
immigration and customs enforcement
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
What we know about the ICE shooting in NYC
A federal immigration agent shot a Dominican immigrant in the neck in Marble Hill Thursday night.
By
Karen Yi
Published Oct 10, 2026 at 6:00 a.m. ET
DSA to Mamdani: Fire NYPD commissioner if ICE doesn't leave NYC
The DSA's NYC chapter accused the NYPD of collaborating with ICE and demanded Mayor Mamdani hold Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch responsible.
By
Elizabeth Kim
,
Brigid Bergin
and
Ben Feuerherd
News
DSA to Mamdani: Fire NYPD commissioner if ICE doesn't leave NYC
The DSA's NYC chapter accused the NYPD of collaborating with ICE and demanded Mayor Mamdani hold Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch responsible.
By
Elizabeth Kim
,
Brigid Bergin
and
Ben Feuerherd
Two people killed in Bronx vehicle crash
By
Kaya Laterman
NY will opt in Trump’s school choice program, Hochul says
By
Jon Campbell
Residents, lawmakers warned for months of potential for deadly ICE activity in Marble Hill
By
David Brand
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 .