We’ve heard a lot about the immigration crackdown that has been happening over the past few months, but for the first time, we’re getting detailed information about who has been arrested, why and where in the Tri-State area.
Since President Donald Trump took the oath of office on January 20, more than 4,600 non-citizens have been arrested by ICE agents in the New York City area, which includes Newark to Long Island.
The Tri-State makes up about 5% of the 95,000 ICE arrests that have taken place nationwide, according to newly-released data.
New information released from UC Berkeley that was obtained through public records requests and analyzed by the ABC data team shows a large portion of those who have been arrested in the New York City area, 35%, aren’t criminals. They have been arrested for immigration violations.
Plus, close to 1,000 of those apprehensions have happened not at homes or businesses, but at the federal immigration courthouse in downtown New York City.
The data shows a majority of those arrested are men with the median age of 35. The top three countries of citizenship are Ecuador, Mexico and Guatemala.
“The people that they’re arresting now are just people who are going to their court hearings,” said Veronica Cardenas, an immigration attorney and former ICE prosecutor.
“Right now we’re just seeing this whole immigration machine working together to remove people as quickly as possible and to put them in conditions where most people will leave on their own,” Cardenas said.
7 On Your Side Investigates spent hours observing cases in the federal courthouses where cameras are not allowed and found most undocumented immigrants were showing up for court without attorneys, telling the judge they couldn’t find one.
“Things have gotten a lot more challenging,” said Luis Mancheno, an attorney with the nonprofit Legal Services NYC which provides free legal help.
In just the past few weeks, Legal Services NYC has experienced a 40% increase in calls asking for immigration help.
“That’s part of the desperation a lot of the people are in right now because they called not one, not two but 10 legal services which is, we don’t have capacity,” Macheno said.
In addition, out of the 10,000 people who have requested help from the nonprofit over the past year, they’ve only had enough attorneys to take on 600 cases. They’re getting an increased number of requests, with the same number of attorneys and funding since 2020.
“It’s hard, it’s heartbreaking more than anything because the vast majority of people who come to us who talk to us and want to receive our services have a legal pathway to citizenship that’s a reality,” Mancheno said.
Eyewitness News reached out to ICE for comment on the newly-released data and is still waiting to hear back.
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