Audit finds over 70% increase in federal immigration arrests in New York City under Trump
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Demonstrators holding signs during an anti-ICE protest in front of 26 Federal Plaza Immigration Court in the Manhattan borough of New York City on May 12.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON - New York City has experienced a more than 70 per cent increase in federal immigration arrests since US President Donald Trump returned to the White House, according to a city audit released on May 22.
The audit, ordered by Mayor Zohran Mamdani soon after he took office this year, found that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 5,567 people in the New York City area between Jan 20, 2025, when Mr Trump, a Republican, was sworn in as president, and March 10, 2026.
Over half of those arrests took place at immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, according to the report.
That figure, according to the audit, represented a 71 per cent increase over the same number of days at the end of Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration.
The US Department of Homeland Security, which has federal oversight of immigration enforcement and has carried out Mr Trump’s aggressive immigration campaign, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr Mamdani, a Democrat, ordered the audit as part of efforts to protect immigrant communities.
“New York City is home to immigrants from every corner of the world, and no one should live in fear because of their status,” the mayor said in a statement on May 22.
The audit report included more than two dozen recommendations, among them auditing e-mails between officials in the city’s Department of Corrections and ICE to identify any improper communications.
Also recommended was discontinuing daily reports to ICE regarding the national origin of non-citizens admitted into custody who have qualifying “violent and serious convictions”.
According to the report, sharing such information is not required by federal, state or local law.
New York and other Democratic strongholds have laws limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, some arguing local resources should not be used on what is primarily a federal responsibility, and that, as a matter of broader public safety, immigrants should be encouraged to work with law enforcement to report crimes without fearing deportation. REUTERS
