Mayor’s audit shows aggressive ICE tactics are on the rise in NYC, with arrests up 71 percent

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Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office last week released the findings of an audit examining how city agencies adhere to the city’s sanctuary laws in the face of growing federal immigration enforcement efforts under the current Trump administration. The report showed that immigration enforcement activity has increased dramatically, with a 71 percent jump in arrests between January 2025 and March 2026 compared to the same number of days under former President Joe Biden. Findings include a sharply escalating number of detainer requests, targeting of city shelters, and a rise in aggressive enforcement tactics.

In February 2026, Mayor Zohran Mamdani signed Executive Order 13 reaffirming the city’s existing sanctuary commitment in response to federal immigration enforcement, as 6sqft previously reported. These sanctuary policies remain a point of legal and political conflict between the city and the federal government. The order established the Interagency Response Committee (IRC) to coordinate the city’s response to crises, and mandated definitive actions to strengthen compliance with local laws.

As a first step, the order called for a public safety audit reviewing agency compliance with policies related to civil immigration enforcement in order to gain a better understanding of city agency interactions with federal immigration authorities in a shifting enforcement landscape, and to get immediate and long-term recommendations from the agencies.

The audit covered six city agencies: the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), Department of Correction (DOC), Department of Probation (DOP), Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), Department of Social Services (DSS), and the New York Police Department (NYPD), and recommended that New York City Health + Hospitals (H+H) participate voluntarily.

Among other findings, the multi-agency audit process revealed that federal immigration authorities have drastically increased their issuance of detainer requests to DOC and NYPD, heightened their targeting of city shelters, and engaged in numerous aggressive and misleading tactics.

The data revealed that between January 20, 2025, and March 10, 2026, ICE arrested 5,567 individuals in the New York City area, a 71 percent increase compared to the same number of days at the end of the previous administration.

ICE conducted over half of these arrests at the immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza. About 15 percent of arrests were tied to Alternatives to Detention (ATD), ICE’s electronic monitoring program, indicating that the arrests were made at a check-in process that complied with the requirements of supervision.

DOC saw a 120 percent increase in detainer requests in 2025 compared to 2024. The report revealed that it also sent daily reports to ICE on noncitizens in custody.

ICE’s detainer requests to the NYPD increased dramatically as well. ICE sent the NYPD detainer requests at a rate 36 times higher than the previous year, from 99 requests in FY24 to 3,627 requests in FY25.

Only where authorized under certain exceptions pursuant to city laws, DOC responded to 24 of these requests by providing notification of an individual’s release and facilitating their transfer to ICE custody. DOC did not keep anyone detained beyond the term of their sentence.

The report also revealed that federal agencies not historically focused on civil immigration enforcement–like Homeland Security Investigations and the Office of Refugee Resettlement–have stepped into a greater role in civil immigration enforcement, further expanding the widening enforcement net.

In response to the audit report, Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, praised the mayor for conducting the audit and making it public.

“At a time when immigrant New Yorkers are under attack from the federal government–and over 5,000 ICE arrests of New Yorkers since Trump came back into office–it is critical to enact stronger protections, oversight, and monitoring to prevent inappropriate, unauthorized or illegal involvement by ICE.”

Each agency involved in the audit provided the mayor with a comprehensive outline of key agency-specific issues and recommendations developed with support from the IRC. In some instances, the IRC is conducting further assessments as part of an ongoing review process.

Next steps will include updating the agencies’ processes as recommended, publicly posting policies, updating training protocols for public-facing city employees, public education and outreach, and implementing mechanisms for ongoing review, among others.

“Executive Order 13 reflects Mayor Mamdani’s commitment to strengthening transparency, accountability, and protections for our immigrant communities,” MOIA Commissioner Faiza N. Ali said in a statement.

“The findings and recommendations released today will strengthen city agencies’ protocols when interacting with federal authorities and ensure that all New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status, can safely access the city services they deserve. I look forward to working with our government partners and all stakeholders to implement the changes identified in this audit and bolster our city’s support for immigrant New Yorkers.”

According to an investigation released by local news site The City this week, the current federal enforcement campaign has disproportionately targeted people from Latin American countries during street arrests. When analyzing more than 1,200 lawsuits, reporters found ICE agents in the field have seized Latinos in numbers far beyond their representation in the undocumented population.

The number of emergency lawsuits filed by immigrants challenging the legality of their detention–known as habeas corpus petitions–has increased dramatically with the current Trump administration’s enforcement campaign. Records of these lawsuits often contain important details about the arrests, including the circumstances and demographics of the individuals detained.

The City looked at each emergency lawsuit filed by immigrants in three federal courts from October 15, 2025, to March 15, 2026. In the database of petitions, 430 street arrests across the New York metro area were identified, including those in Long Island and New Jersey.

Street arrests often attract little public attention compared with the ICE arrests that happen inside the immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza in front of court observers, elected officials, and photographers. Yet during the five-month review period of the habeas petitions, street arrests were found to be far more common than immigration court arrests.

Although individuals from Latin American countries make up 66 percent of immigrants without legal status in the region, more than 93 percent of those who filed suit after being seized on the street by federal agents were Latinos.

As The City noted, street arrests unfold in minutes, often on quiet residential streets away from open public view. These arrests are often surprise encounters that have left immigrants stunned, afraid they were being kidnapped. According to court filings, some individuals ran in terror from menacing masked agents. Other encounters turned violent as officers deployed taser guns and smashed car windows. In some cases, agents shouted racial epithets during the arrest.

While a federal judge recently barred most ICE arrests at immigration courthouses in New York City, Trump border czar Tom Homan has threatened to “flood the zone” with ICE agents. This could mean that, along with street arrests, racially-targeted arrests could continue to rise.

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This post was originally published here.