Immigration raids in NYC netted 'criminals' but also plenty who weren't, reports say

There’s been no official count from the Trump administration on the number of arrests made during Tuesday’s high-profile immigration enforcement action in New York City, but there are reports the operations went beyond the criminals, gang members and “dirtbags” that federal officials said would be targeted.

About 20 people were arrested in the predawn operations, according to the Washington Post. The majority of those taken into custody had “criminal records,” but eight did not have any prior criminal history, according to the Post. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joined the operations, along with invited media.

Federal law enforcement, including agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Agency, were shown arresting at least four individuals during the operations in photos posted on X by the local DEA branch.

“For operational security reasons and for the safety of our law enforcement personnel, ICE does not confirm or discuss ongoing operations,” Marie Ferguson, the spokesperson for ICE’s New York City field office, said in an email to Gothamist on Wednesday.

Before President Donald Trump took office, his "border czar" Tom Homan repeatedly pledged that immigration agents would target criminals and gang members, making them the top priority in the administration’s push for “mass deportation.”

But Homan also said to expect “collateral arrests,” or the detention of individuals who weren’t the primary targets of enforcement actions — especially in “sanctuary cities” that restrict cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. Collateral arrests were banned under the Biden administration.

In a video posted on X, Noem said of Tuesday’s operations, "Here in New York City this morning, we are getting the dirtbags off these streets.”

Still, no official data has been released on the number of ICE arrests made regionally or in New York City since Trump's return to office. In September 2024, the latest month for which agency data is available, ICE made about five daily arrests in the New York City area. In 2023, ICE arrested about 24 people in New York City daily.

The enforcement actions in New York this week come after ICE raids in the Chicago area on Sunday in which at least 100 people were detained, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said in a press conference.

ICE has stepped up its enforcement operations across the country, arresting roughly 1,000 people or more each day since Sunday, according to figures released on the agency’s X account. The number of daily ICE arrests averaged about 311 in the fiscal year ending in September 2024, according to the agency’s annual report.

ICE has not officially released data on how many of those it had arrested in recent days had criminal convictions or charges. In her first White House press briefing on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to say how many of the immigrants detained by ICE in recent days had criminal records.

Many ICE arrests nationwide thus far have been for people without criminal histories, or those convicted of nonviolent crimes, according to NBC News. A majority, or 52%, of ICE’s total arrests on Sunday were “criminal arrests,” and the rest were nonviolent offenders or those with no criminal convictions except crossing the border illegally, according to "a senior Trump administration official" referenced in the NBC report.

Aurora, Colorado's police department said on X that Anderson Zambrano-Pacheco, wanted for felony charges of burglary and menacing with a firearm, was among those arrested by federal law enforcement in New York on Tuesday. Zambrano-Pachecho had a court appearance scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in the federal court for the Southern District of New York.

And Attorney Benjamin Simpson said one of his clients, a man from Latin America in his 40s, was also detained in the raids. Simpson said the man had a “serious” felony conviction from about 20 years ago, and declined to provide more details.

Simpson said his client had approached him in recent months, asking for help to clear the record of his conviction.

“He knew this was foreseeable,” Simpson said. “That’s the reason he hired me.”