Immigrant Arrests Spike in Metro Area

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made almost 2,600 arrests in New York City during the Fiscal Year that ended in late September. That's about a 40 percent increase over the previous fiscal year, similar to the national spike.

The new data reflect the stark departure under the Trump Administration from former President Barack Obama's immigration priorities. Under Obama, ICE focused mostly on arresting immigrants convicted of crimes. But immigrants merely charged, but not convicted, of crimes are now targeted by ICE along with those who don't have legal documentation.

As a result, 26 percent of all immigrants arrested in New York City in Fiscal Year 2017 were not convicted of any crimes, double the share of the previous year. In New Jersey, 40 percent of those arrested were not convicted of crimes versus 25 percent in the previous year.

Angela Fernandez, executive director and supervising attorney for the Northern Manhattan Coalition for Immigrant Rights, said those statistics are troubling.

"It's a huge danger to sweep people up who are not convicted because anyone can be charged with any kind of crime," she said. 

She noted that a local police officer could potentially charge someone wrongly just to get them deported.

Fernandez called on the Trump administration to show how many of those who were arrested had committed minor crimes. She also said ICE should be more transparent about how many legal immigrants were swept up compared to those without legal status. The agency currently doesn't share that information.

The Department of Homeland Security views the arrests as an issue of public safety.

“We have clearly seen the successful results of the President’s commitment to supporting the frontline officers and agents of DHS as they enforce the law and secure our borders,” said Acting Secretary Elaine Duke. “We have an obligation to uphold the integrity of our immigration system, but we must do more to step up and close loopholes to protect the American worker, our economy, and our communities.”

Immigration advocates weren't surprised by the new data. "These numbers confirm what we've been seeing on the ground for a long time," said Camille Mackler, an attorney with the New York Immigration Coalition. "It's the administration carrying out their anti-immigrant agenda and the real-life effects of these numbers are devastating to families and communities for whom these numbers are attached to faces and real lives."