NYC immigration arrests and deportations surge after slow start, data shows

Arrests and deportations by federal immigration agents are climbing sharply in the New York City area after an initial slow start in President Donald Trump’s second term, according to a Gothamist analysis of new data.

Some 3,300 immigrants were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in New York from Jan. 20, when Trump began his second term, through July 29, the data shows. That was a 56% increase from the same period a year ago.

So far this year, ICE has already deported more than three times the number of immigrant New Yorkers who were removed in all of last year.

The surging numbers have partly been driven by arrests at 26 Federal Plaza in Lower Manhattan, where immigrants have been taken into custody after appearing in immigration court proceedings held there.

"It's far harder for ICE officers to go into the streets … and try to arrest the so-called 'worst of the worst,'" said Elora Mukherjee, director of the Immigrants' Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School. "It’s far easier for ICE officers to arrest people in courthouses. … ICE has full operational control over the building."

The data, obtained by the Deportation Data Project, also reveals immigrants with no criminal backgrounds constitute a growing share of those arrested. The Trump administration has set a nationwide goal of 3,000 immigration arrests a day in a broad immigration crackdown.

The Deportation Data Project is a group of lawyers and academics who obtain immigration enforcement data through Freedom of Information requests and say they publish the data to promote transparency.

Here are five key takeaways from the latest data, covering arrests through late July 2025.

ICE arrests are up compared to last year

For much of Trump’s second term, arrests in the New York City area lagged behind 2024. That shifted dramatically in early June, when ICE arrests spiked following the agency’s push to step up enforcement at local immigration courthouses.

The data includes arrests made by the ICE New York City field office in the city and surrounding counties, including Dutchess, Nassau, Putnam, Suffolk, Sullivan, Orange, Rockland and Westchester.

Even with that surge, New York City’s increase was relatively modest compared to other regions. ICE arrests have more than doubled in the Buffalo, Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia and El Paso areas; tripled in Washington, D.C.; and quadrupled in San Diego.

Nationwide, ICE has outpaced last year’s totals since Trump’s first day back in office.

ICE is arresting more people with no criminal records — after a brief reversal

For years, most immigrants arrested by ICE in the New York City area have had no criminal record. That pattern continued in Trump’s second term: 57% of all immigrants arrested in the area so far this year had no criminal history, while another 15% faced pending criminal charges.

But earlier this year, the local ICE field office briefly reversed course. Nearly half of all arrestees in the New York City area during the first few months of 2025 were people with criminal convictions. That's reflected in the overall year-to-date statistics: About 28% of the arrested immigrants had criminal convictions, up from 15% last year.

But that pattern hasn’t continued. Starting in mid-May, as ICE ramped up courthouse arrests, the share of arrestees with criminal convictions dropped sharply while arrests of immigrants with no criminal history rose again.

In June, just under 18% of the 1,049 immigrants arrested had criminal convictions, and nearly 72% had no criminal history.

A Lower Manhattan federal building is a major hotspot for arrests

More than half of all arrests in New York City this year have taken place at 26 Federal Plaza, a towering federal building in Lower Manhattan. Many immigrants have been arrested at immigration courts in the building in recent months.

Conditions inside the building’s ICE holding rooms have drawn scrutiny. Immigrants and attorneys describe dozens of people packed into cramped rooms overnight, with insufficient food and no beds. A federal judge recently ordered ICE to provide sleeping mats, toiletries, additional meals and regular phone access to attorneys.

ICE largely denies claims of overcrowding at the facility. But federal detention data from the facility shows the number of people detained at times exceeded the fire marshal-approved capacity of 154, according to court papers. On June 4, for example, 238 people were detained there.

Under the recent court order, ICE is required to provide at least 50 square feet of space per detainee. If implemented, that standard would reduce the capacity to about 35 people, based on the size of the rooms.

ICE is deporting more people — and more quickly

ICE has deported 1,547 people who were arrested in the New York City area this year, more than triple the total deported all of last year. The surge mirrors a national trend under Trump.

Deportations are also moving more quickly. On average, immigrants arrested in New York City this year were deported within 24 days, compared to 112 days in 2024.

ICE is arresting slightly more men and older people

Nearly 9 in 10 of the 3,383 immigrants arrested in the New York City area this year were men, up from 61% in the same period last year.

The average age of arrestees has also climbed, to 36 from 29.

Cases involving arrests of minors have gained public attention, but the data shows overall arrests of children are falling. ICE arrested about 77 people under the age of 18 this year, down sevenfold from 552 in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, arrests of older immigrants are increasing. ICE arrested about 83 people 60 or older through late July, roughly triple the number during the same timeframe last year.

There have also been noticeable shifts in the nationalities of ICE arrestees.

In the last few years, Ecuador has been the most common country of origin for ICE arrestees in the New York City area, which remains true so far this year. But the agency has been arresting fewer people from Ecuador and more people from other countries.

Twenty-three percent of arrestees were from Ecuador, down from 26% in the same period in 2024. And ICE has been arresting larger shares of immigrants from China, Guinea, Haiti and other countries than last year.