Investigation: 93% of ICE Street Arrests in New York Area Target Latinos
A City Reporter investigation finds that over 93% of ICE street arrests in the New York metro area from October 2025 to March 2026 targeted individuals from Latin American countries, despite Latinos comprising only 66% of unauthorized immigrants in the region.
Federal agents have arrested hundreds of immigrants off New York and New Jersey streets in recent months in a stealth enforcement campaign that disproportionately targeted people from Latin American countries, according to an investigation by the City Reporter based on a review of more than 1,200 lawsuits.
More than 93% of the people grabbed off area streets who filed suit were from Latin American countries, although Latinos make up only 66% of immigrants without legal status in the region. The arrests have rattled Latino neighborhoods, as people disappear in moments as mundane as buying milk, walking their dog, taking out the trash or picking up their children from soccer practice.
Street arrests are different from other types of immigration enforcement in that they unfold in minutes, often on quiet residential streets and out of public view. Many immigrants who had no expectation of being detained were targeted at the sole discretion of agents in the field. In some accounts, ICE agents said they stopped people because they looked similar to someone they had a warrant for, then realized they had a different subject, but apprehended the person anyway.
The surprise encounters often left immigrants stunned, as they feared they were being kidnapped. Some ran in terror from the masked agents. Other encounters turned violent as officers deployed Taser guns and smashed car windows. Agents at times shouted racial epithets, for example, allegedly calling one immigrant a "maldito Mexicano" during the arrest.
The 430 ICE street arrests identified by the City Reporter from lawsuits filed over a five-month period were clustered in predominantly Latino communities. Within New York City, the Corona neighborhood in Queens had the highest number. Such street arrests were rare before Donald Trump's second term.
Lawyers have sued the administration, arguing the arrests violate the US constitution, and federal judges have increasingly criticized ICE's tactics as illegal. The Department of Homeland Security denies racial profiling, saying agents are properly trained.
According to lawyers, agents often lack evidence for arrests. "They're arresting first, then they're finding the justification later," said immigration lawyer Michael Musa-Obregon.
