Between January and the end of May, 2974 immigrants without legal status were arrested in New York and New Jersey, according to federal data obtained by WNYC. That's an increase of 38 percent compared to the same period last year.
The same level of increase was reported nationally by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, in President Donald Trump's first 100 days of office from late January through April.
But it’s a different story if you look at who’s being arrested. The data showed 25 percent of those arrested in New York had no criminal convictions, up from 17 percent in the same five-month period of 2016. And in New Jersey, a stunning 44 percent of the 1395 people arrested between January and the end of May had no criminal convictions. That compares to 24 percent in the same period of 2016.
Advocates for immigrants in New Jersey found those figures surprising and troubling.
"I think the narrative that criminals are the priority isn’t real," said Johanna Calle, program coordinator for the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice.
There are several theories for New Jersey's big spike in arrests of undocumented immigrants with no criminal convictions:
1. Changing National Priorities: In an Executive Order signed on January 25th, President Donald Trump overhauled the nation's immigration priorities. Previously, ICE focused on removing immigrants convicted of crimes. Former President Barack Obama had adopted this policy after deciding the nation's limited resources shouldn't be used to deport all undocumented immigrants (Obama deported a record 2.5 million people).
But Trump's order made those who were also accused of or charged with crimes a priority for removal. Critics claim that's too broad and includes many low-level offenses, such as fare evasion. The administration, however, views this as a key component of national security.
2. Less "Sanctuary": Unlike New York, New Jersey requires police to notify ICE if they suspect someone charged with a serious crime is an undocumented immigrant. That hasn't stopped some cities and towns, including Newark and Maplewood, from limiting cooperation through so-called sanctuary policies, however.
3. Cooperation with ICE. Some New Jersey jurisdictions cooperate with ICE more than others. In Ocean County, for example, County Administrator Carl Block said an ICE agent is on-site in the jail. He said the county was asked to do this voluntarily and is not being paid.
When asked if this could have contributed to the increase in ICE arrests of non-criminals — people charged with a crime but still awaiting trial — Block said he had not noticed any increase in ICE activity in his southern New Jersey county. "We don't have that many people that ICE picks up," he said.
The New Jersey counties of Cape May, Hudson, Monmouth and Salem have additional 287(g) agreements permitting designated officers to perform immigration law enforcement functions, but only for their jails.
4. Arresting People at Check-ins. Immigration advocates suspect many of the undocumented immigrants who were arrested this year were detained during regular check-ins with ICE. This would include several Indonesian Christians detained in Newark.
5. Focus on Gang Activity. ICE has said it's making a concerted effort to go after gang members. In May, more than 200 undocumented immigrants in New Jersey were arrested as part of a crackdown on suspected gang members. Many of those had no prior criminal records.
6. Collateral Arrests. Farrin Anello, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU of New Jersey, suggested that if ICE is targeting more people overall, it might also be catching immigrants with no convictions. "People that ICE agents just happen to encounter in the course of their work but are not targets," she said.
WNYC repeatedly asked ICE officials in Newark, New York City and Washington, D.C. to respond to these theories and to provide any of their own reasons why so many people without criminal convictions were arrested in New Jersey. The agency did not respond.