Immigration Crackdown: ICE Tactics on Long Island Under Scrutiny for Surveilling Immigrants

U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has adopted a largely covert surveillance strategy on Long Island, shifting its focus from highly visible raids to monitoring individuals using vehicles in public spaces. This approach, revealed by a Newsday investigation, leverages the region's prevailing car culture, transforming parking lots, side streets, and highways into key sites for immigration enforcement operations. Since the beginning of the second Trump administration, ICE has arrested over 2,000 people on Long Island, with a significant number of these detentions stemming from discreet, car-related encounters.

A compelling case illustrating these tactics is the arrest of Luis, a 25-year-old tile installer. While on a break in his black Jeep Cherokee at Tanger Outlets in Deer Park, ICE agents, observing from unmarked sedans, quickly ran his Virginia license plates. Within a mere 20 minutes, they identified him as an Ecuadorian citizen, obtained a warrant, and arrested him, despite his assertions of possessing a valid work permit and federal status shielding him from deportation. Luis recounted being handcuffed and his car, keys, and belongings left unattended, stating in Spanish, "They didn’t verify anything. They just said, ‘You’re illegal.’" His last name is withheld by Newsday to protect his privacy as his immigration case continues.

Newsday's analysis, based on approximately 400 habeas corpus petitions and government responses filed in the U.S. Eastern District of New York court between January 2025 and June 2026, provided critical insight into ICE's methods. At least 84 of these cases involved immigrants arrested while using a car on Long Island, including during traffic stops, in parking lots, and following crashes. Agents repeatedly testified in sworn statements and court transcripts to running out-of-state license plates to identify vehicle registrants, then cross-referencing these names with federal immigration databases to ascertain legal status. This tactic circumvents New York state law, which bars ICE from accessing its Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) records, as evidenced by cases like Luis's and others involving vehicles with Virginia plates.

The use of traffic stops as an enforcement tactic has drawn intensified national scrutiny, particularly after recent federal agent involvement in fatal incidents with immigrants in cars in Texas and Maine. In response, the Department of Homeland Security temporarily ordered a halt to most traffic stops on July 14. However, President Donald Trump swiftly criticized this directive the following day, asserting on social media that ICE "cannot give up" one of the agency’s "most important and effective crime fighting tools."

Immigration attorneys allege that ICE’s reliance on checking license plate information and car registrations amounts to racial profiling, underscoring the agency's increasingly widespread and covert surveillance network. These tactics are less prone to generating the public protests and bystander videos often associated with more overt raids and targeted home visits, yet they continue to apprehend hundreds of unaware immigrants in their daily routines. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, while adopting a more conciliatory tone than his predecessor, affirmed the continuation of Trump's immigration policies, with a stated goal of ensuring the agency maintains a lower public profile.

The sheer scale of ICE's surveillance operations on Long Island raises significant concerns regarding privacy and government overreach. Reuben Kerben, Luis’ Queens-based attorney, expressed unease, stating, "It definitely — as someone who lives on Long Island — worries me, troubles me... Like, what else is being done that we’re not really privy to as the public?" This discreet approach, amidst a nationwide surge in ICE arrests, could potentially serve as a blueprint for conducting arrests with reduced immediate public awareness.

A spokesperson for ICE confirmed the agency does not have access to New York DMV databases but did not answer questions regarding whether permission is sought from businesses to conduct surveillance operations in their parking lots. Retailers with stores where arrests occurred, such as Tanger Outlets and Green Acres Mall, stated they either had no agreement with ICE or were not notified of agents’ presence. Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, identified as a frequent site for ICE surveillance, saw at least six arrests via plate checks between mid-February and early March, including an Instacart delivery driver.

The impact on immigrant communities is profound, fostering widespread fear and isolation. Ivan Larios, manager of organizing and strategy for Long Island at the New York Immigration Coalition, observed that "People are afraid to go out and conduct their daily activities," leading families to become isolated and hesitant to leave their homes. ICE stops are notably concentrated in Long Island communities with sizable Latino populations, including Brentwood, Freeport, Hempstead, and Uniondale.

Allegations of racial profiling are further substantiated by incidents such as the February arrest of a 27-year-old Honduran man in Central Islip. According to court petitions, ICE officers, with firearms drawn, reportedly shattered his van window, pulled him from the vehicle, and forced him to the ground before arresting him; a federal judge ordered his release two days later. Ify Chikezie, a staff attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union, called the practice of running plates based on a driver’s appearance unlawful, stating it "truly amounts to racial profiling." Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s concurring opinion in a September case, which suggested race could be a factor in arrests, is viewed by some immigration attorneys, like Sergey Risko, as a potential justification for ICE's practices, making "Latinos an easy target."

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), an organization favoring limited immigration, defended ICE's actions, stating the agency is fulfilling its responsibilities by targeting violators where they are most likely to be found and utilizing available tools. Long Island has recently experienced a historic high in immigration arrests, comprising over half of the metropolitan area's detentions since last fall, despite only approximately 15% of New York’s undocumented immigrants residing there.

The Nassau County Police Department collaborates with ICE through a 287(g) agreement, which permits county officers to be deputized for immigration enforcement actions. Newsday identified at least five cases from court records where county police conducted traffic stops or responded to crashes, then called ICE to verify immigration status, subsequently leading to arrests. In response to these tactics, a class-action lawsuit was filed in April, alleging federal agents infringe on immigrants’ constitutional rights through racial profiling and warrantless arrests.

ICE often claims to produce warrants after an arrest, with officers citing safety concerns for not serving them at the scene. Court records indicate instances where an acting supervisory detention and deportation officer completed and signed a warrant only *after* agents ran records checks on license plates to identify and determine the immigration status of registered vehicle owners. New York’s recently passed state budget measure grants individuals the right to sue if federal agents violate their constitutional rights.

Advocacy groups like the New York Immigration Coalition are actively conducting "know-your-rights" presentations, distributing information online and via printed cards to reach communities wary of traveling to meeting places. While advocates urge immigrants not to voluntarily provide information to ICE, attorneys like Carolyn Corrado acknowledge that fear of force is a significant factor in compliance, citing a client who was arrested after officers "pointed a gun at his head."

Months after his arrest, Luis still experiences nervousness when driving. He has shifted from union construction work to smaller, self-employed tiling jobs, feeling that "all immigrants feel like we’re criminals, and you never know at what moment you will fall... There’s always worry for your family because you never know." His story underscores the lasting psychological impact of these enforcement tactics on individuals and families within the immigrant community.