Ninety-three percent of ICE street arrests in the New York region targeted people from Latin American countries, according to an analysis of more than 1,200 federal lawsuits [1]. Latinos make up 66 percent of immigrants without legal status in the same region [1].
The 27-point gap appears in data extracted from habeas corpus petitions filed between 15 October 2025 and 15 March 2026 in three federal courts [1]. The City Reporter identified 430 street arrests from the emergency filings [1]. Federal immigration data does not distinguish street arrests from other arrest types [1].
The lawsuit cache is the only dataset that isolates street enforcement. Habeas petitions have increased under the second Trump administration [1].
Passaic, Plainfield, Corona
Arrests clustered in predominantly Latino communities: Passaic and Plainfield in New Jersey, Brentwood and Hempstead on Long Island [1]. Within New York City, 81 street arrests occurred during the study period [1]. Corona in Queens recorded the highest number of any city neighborhood [1].
Street arrests were rare in New York City before Donald Trump's second term [1]. Tom Homan, the White House border czar, threatened to "flood the zone" with federal immigration officers [1].
The arrests happened during mundane activities: buying milk, walking dogs, taking out trash, picking up children from soccer practice [1]. ICE agents deployed Tasers [1]. Agents smashed car windows [1]. In one lawsuit filed in federal court in January, agents allegedly shouted "maldito Mexicano", fucking Mexican, during an arrest [1].
Wrong person, arrested anyway
Some ICE agents stopped people because they looked similar to someone they had a warrant for, then apprehended them anyway despite realizing they were the wrong person [1]. The legal mechanism does not trigger immediate release for mistaken identity. That generates the habeas petition.
Some immigrants ran from masked agents [1]. Federal judges have increasingly criticized ICE's tactics as illegal [1]. Lawyers have sued the administration arguing the arrests violate the US constitution [1].
ICE arrests inside immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan have attracted more public scrutiny than street arrests [1]. The vast majority of arrests in the New York area have gone unreported [1]. The 430 arrests represent the visible fraction, cases that became emergency legal filings.
A federal judge banned ICE arrests at three Manhattan federal courthouses: 26 Federal Plaza, 201 Varick Street, and 290 Broadway [1]. The same judge barred most arrests at immigration courthouses citywide [1]. The number of street arrests during the same five-month period: 430 [1].
The courthouse ban affected a small fraction of total enforcement activity [1]. Street arrests continued unabated in residential neighborhoods where legal observers and journalists were largely absent [1].
