The number of arrests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in New York City in just six months under President Donald Trump’s administration eclipsed the total in the entirety of 2024, according to data reviewed and analyzed by NY1.
What You Need To Know
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests in New York City were higher after six months of the Trump administration than all of 2024
Data analyzed by NY1 also shows a rise in deportations in the city
The number of convicted criminals arrested in the city has nearly doubled under President Donald Trump compared to former President Joe Biden. However, the total of those with criminal convictions or pending criminal charges still represents less than half of those cuffed in the city
While he was a candidate, Trump promised the largest deportation effort in history. Immigration was front and center in the 2024 presidential campaign.
“They have extraordinary resources to do that, so what they’ve done is look around creatively for all the different ways they can arrest people,” said Graeme Blair, the co-director for the Deportation Data Project.
The organization, made up of lawyers and political scientists, makes Freedom of Information Act requests on immigration enforcement and then publishes the data it receives.
“Oftentimes, it has to sue the government to obtain the data,” Blair said.
NY1 spent weeks going through hundreds of thousands of data points on ICE arrests and detentions of noncitizens from January 2024 to July 2025, representing the last full year of the Biden presidency through the first six months of the Trump presidency.
Since January, the focus of the Trump administration has been consistent: ICE’s enforcement would focus on “the worst of the worst.”
But in the city, only 27% arrested are convicted criminals. Even adding those with pending criminal charges, it’s only 42% of the total.
However, the raw totals show a huge surge in those cuffed. There were 917 convicted criminals arrested in the first six months of the Trump administration, which is significantly higher than the 560 arrested in all of 2024.
Missing from this data, though, is when the convictions happened, what the crimes were, and where.
NY1 analyzed the convicted criminals being arrested and jailed in New York City, also per the Deportation Data Project.
The data shows a wide range in the types of crimes. About 20% of convicted criminals detained had crimes that were almost always felonies, including homicide, kidnapping, aggravated assault and human trafficking.
Roughly 66% of those detained had convictions that could either be felonies or misdemeanors based on the specific circumstances of the case, such as larceny, DUI and fraud.
The rest, which makes up 14%, had convictions for things that are predominantly misdemeanors, such as traffic violations and disorderly conduct.
“So there’s a really big divergence between the messaging coming from the Trump administration and the kinds of people who are being detained, put into detention and deported,” Blair told NY1 in an interview.
He said he believes the arrests will only continue to rise thanks to this year’s budget bill, which increases funding for immigration enforcement and detention capacity by nearly $100 billion until September 2029.
Blair also said he believes the increase in resources for ICE has led to a surge in arrests for another group of noncitizens: those with final removal orders.
These are individuals who have been ordered removed by immigration judges, and the order remains after exhausting all their appeals.
Data analyzed by NY1 shows there has been a 480% increase in these arrests in New York City between the two presidential administrations.
Blair said that these cases in the past could have been lower priorities for ICE agents, but with more resources and funding, that may have changed.
Trump also promised a surge in deportations. In New York City, the data shows a 150% increase in his administration so far.
Nationwide, NY1’s examination shows arrests and deportations are higher in the six months of the Trump administration compared to 2024. The number of convicted criminals arrested is nearly identical. However, it represents a lower percentage of the arrests under Trump than under former President Joe Biden.
In September, polling from the New York Times and Siena College showed that more than half of registered voters who responded believe the U.S. government is mostly deporting people who should be deported. However, in the same poll, a majority also believed “the process of deporting people has been mostly unfair.”
Protests have erupted across the country, including in New York City, about ICE’s immigration enforcement.
There has been widespread criticism of ICE’s masked agents conducting operations on city streets. The Trump administration has repeatedly said agents are covering their faces to protect against the rising threats they face.
ICE agents have also been regularly arresting noncitizens showing up to immigration court for scheduled hearings, a practice immigration lawyers said had rarely been used before.
And in federal court, a battle is underway about whether it’s constitutional for some noncitizens who, thanks to a rule change by the Board of Immigration Appeals, have been denied bond hearings.
Meanwhile, Blair said his organization continues to file records requests for immigration enforcement data. He said he hopes to have fresh data on the website soon.