‘They have all the power’: investigation finds that 93% of ICE arrests targeted Latinos

‘It doesn’t matter to them how many families they destroy.’ Photograph: Ben Fractenberg/The City View image in fullscreen ‘It doesn’t matter to them how many families they destroy.’ Photograph: Ben Fractenberg/The City ‘They have all the power’: investigation finds that 93% of ICE arrests targeted Latinos 430 ICE street arrests filed over a five-month period were clustered in predominantly Latino communities across New Jersey and New York F ederal agents have arrested hundreds of immigrants off New York and New Jersey streets in recent months in a stealth enforcement campaign that disproportionately targeted people from Latin American countries, according to an investigation by the City Reporter based on a review of more than 1,200 lawsuits. More than 93% of the people grabbed off area streets who filed suit were from Latin American countries, although Latinos make up only 66% of immigrants without legal status in the region. The arrests have rattled Latino neighborhoods, as people disappear in moments as mundane as buying milk, walking their dog, taking out the trash or picking up their children from soccer practice. Street arrests are different from other types of immigration enforcement in that they unfold in minutes, often on quiet residential streets and out of public view. Many immigrants who had no expectation of being detained were targeted at the sole discretion of agents in the field. In some accounts of the arrests, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents said they stopped people because they looked similar to someone they had a warrant for, then realized they had a different subject, but apprehended the person anyway. The surprise encounters often left immigrants stunned, as they feared they were being kidnapped. Some ran in terror from the masked agents. Other encounters turned violent as officers deployed Taser guns and smashed car windows. Agents at times shouted racial epithets, for example, allegedly calling one immigrant a “ maldito Mexicano” – “fucking Mexican” – during the arrest, according to one lawsuit filed this January in federal court. The 430 ICE street arrests identified by the City Reporter from lawsuits filed over a five-month period were clustered in predominantly Latino communities across the region, from Passaic and Plainfield in New Jersey to Brentwood and Hempstead on Long Island. Within New York City, there were 81 ICE street arrests. The Corona neighborhood in Queens had the highest number of street arrests by ICE officers of any New York City neighborhood. View image in fullscreen Immigration officials separated a father from his family for four months after arresting him in Corona, Queens. Photograph: Ben Fractenberg/The City Such street arrests were rare in New York City before Donald Trump’s second term. As they ramped up in recent months, lawyers have sued the administration, arguing the arrests violate the US constitution, and federal judges have increasingly criticized ICE’s tactics as illegal.