ICE Arrests Surge in New York and New Jersey with New Laws

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) intensified its arrests in New York and New Jersey during the summer of 2026. The spike occurs just as both states face a legal battle to limit their local police cooperation with the federal agency.

The Numbers Behind the Migration Surge

Data from researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Berkeley show that ICE conducted 49,571 arrests nationwide during July 2026, the highest monthly figure of President Donald Trump’s second term. In February, 29,241 arrests had been recorded, and in June the figure reached 43,021.

In the state of New York, arrests rose from 754 in April to 1,355 in July, an increase of nearly 80%. The difference is even greater compared to December 2024, when only 182 detentions were recorded, according to the same academic records.

New Jersey registered an even more pronounced jump. Between May and July, immigration arrests rose 147.6%. In July alone, ICE agents detained more than 2,100 people in the state, and nearly 1,800 were transferred to the agency’s detention centers.

A Family, a Face Behind the Numbers

Behind the statistics are stories like that of a U.S.-born mother who reported being handcuffed in front of her young children in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Her husband was detained while heading to work, and both ended up on the street while the children cried inside the family vehicle.

The woman stated that the operation did not align with the stated objective of pursuing people with criminal records. «They are going after working people,» she said in an interview with Univision.

Similar cases have been reported in Passaic and other Hispanic communities in New Jersey, where neighbors have reported operations with masked agents and early morning arrests, away from the spotlight.

New York Limits Cooperation with ICE

The increase in arrests coincides with an important change in state rules. On August 25, the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act and the Dignity Not Detention Act entered into force, two laws promoted by Governor Kathy Hochul.

The first prohibits New York local governments and police from maintaining 287(g) agreements with ICE, a mechanism through which local officials collaborate on federal immigration enforcement tasks. The second restricts the use of state facilities to detain people for civil immigration violations.

The Legal Framework That Sustains the Dispute

Federal immigration law grants the central government exclusive authority over immigration enforcement, but does not require states to allocate their own police resources to enforce it. This doctrine, known as the «anti-commandeering» principle, is the legal basis that New York and other states invoke to restrict 287(g) agreements.

The federal administration has questioned this approach in court, arguing that state restrictions interfere with the enforcement of national immigration law. The dispute between both jurisdictions remains unresolved definitively.

The Conflict Reaches the Courts

The enactment of the laws did not close the dispute; on the contrary, the conflict moved to the judicial arena. On August 25, 15 county sheriffs filed a lawsuit to challenge the ban on 287(g) agreements, according to the New York Attorney General’s Office.

The lawsuit comes after a federal court rejected, in early August, a request from the federal administration to provisionally block New York’s ban.

What Authorities Say

Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James argue that the state has the authority to decide how its police and correctional resources are used. For both officials, cooperation with ICE should not divert local agencies from their community safety responsibilities.

From New Jersey, a spokesperson for Governor Mikie Sherrill indicated that ICE operations in the state’s communities do not make them safer.

What Immigrant People Can Do

For undocumented people and their families, knowing their rights in a possible encounter with ICE is key: they are not required to open the door without an order signed by a judge, and they have the right to remain silent and to request a lawyer. Local legal assistance organizations offer free guidance in New York and New Jersey.