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8-27-2026 9:49pm

ICE Arrests Decline on Long Island While Immigration Enforcement Surges Nationwide

ICE Arrests Decline on Long Island While Immigration Enforcement Surges Nationwide

Newly released federal data shows Nassau and Suffolk moving in a different direction from the sharp increase occurring across the country

By Samantha Vogel
Long Island Daily News
August 27, 2026

LONG ISLAND, NY — Immigration enforcement is accelerating across much of the United States, but newly released federal data indicates Long Island is experiencing a different pattern.

While U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests have climbed sharply nationwide, arrests connected to Nassau and Suffolk counties have declined from the levels seen during earlier enforcement activity.

The difference is notable at a time when the Trump administration continues an aggressive immigration enforcement and deportation campaign across the country.

Nationwide, ICE recorded 49,571 arrests in July, according to federal data obtained and analyzed by the Deportation Data Project.

That represented a 15% increase from June, when approximately 43,000 arrests were recorded, and a roughly 70% increase from February.

July’s figure was the highest monthly arrest total recorded during President Donald Trump’s second term.

Long Island, however, has not followed the same trajectory.

Long Island Numbers Move in Opposite Direction

Newly released data shows ICE arrests on Long Island have been decreasing in recent months even as the national numbers move upward.

The decline follows a period of intense immigration enforcement activity across Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Long Island’s immigrant communities have faced months of uncertainty surrounding ICE operations, including reports of agents appearing in communities, arrests occurring outside traditional detention settings and increased cooperation between federal immigration authorities and some local law enforcement agencies.

The latest numbers suggest that the pace of actual arrests locally has eased compared with previous months.

That does not necessarily mean ICE’s presence on Long Island has disappeared.

Immigrant advocacy organizations have continued reporting sightings and enforcement activity throughout Nassau and Suffolk.

Earlier this month, advocates reported an increase in sightings of ICE agents across the Island, illustrating an important distinction between seeing federal agents operating in a community and the number of arrests ultimately recorded.

Enforcement Expands Across the Country

The national picture looks considerably different.

ICE arrests have increased dramatically since President Trump returned to office as his administration has expanded immigration enforcement and made mass deportation a central policy objective.

Federal authorities have broadened the circumstances under which immigration arrests can occur and increased cooperation with state and local law enforcement agencies in parts of the country.

Local police agencies participating in federal immigration partnerships have also played a growing role in enforcement.

Thousands of arrests nationwide are now being carried out through those partnerships.

The administration has maintained that stronger enforcement is necessary to uphold federal immigration laws and remove people who are in the country unlawfully.

Critics, immigrant advocates and civil rights organizations have challenged aspects of the enforcement strategy, particularly when arrests involve people without serious criminal histories.

Nassau County’s Partnership With ICE

The immigration debate has been particularly intense in Nassau County.

Nassau County has worked with ICE through an agreement that allows trained local correctional personnel to perform certain immigration-enforcement functions under federal supervision.

County Executive Bruce Blakeman has repeatedly defended Nassau’s cooperation with federal immigration authorities, arguing that the county is assisting in the enforcement of federal law and helping remove individuals who pose public-safety concerns.

The partnership has also faced significant criticism from immigration advocates and others who argue that local law enforcement should not be used to carry out federal immigration policy.

Previous analysis of ICE data found that many immigrants held at the Nassau County Correctional Center through the partnership did not have criminal convictions or pending criminal charges.

That finding has fueled an ongoing debate over exactly who is being detained as part of the broader immigration crackdown.

Long Island Remains a Focus of the Immigration Debate

Nassau and Suffolk counties are home to large and diverse immigrant populations, making federal immigration policy particularly consequential for communities across the Island.

Long Island has also experienced highly visible ICE operations, protests, legal challenges and disagreements among elected officials over how — or whether — local governments should cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

The latest arrest numbers add another dimension to that debate.

The data does not indicate that immigration enforcement has ended on Long Island.

Instead, it shows that the recent direction of arrests locally differs from what is happening nationally.

Across the United States, ICE arrests are rising.

On Long Island, they have been slowing.

Whether that divergence continues will become clearer as additional federal enforcement data is released in the coming months.

For Long Island’s immigrant communities, local officials and law enforcement agencies, the numbers will be closely watched as the national debate over immigration enforcement continues.

Long Island Daily News will continue monitoring immigration enforcement and its impact on communities throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties.

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