ICE Raids in NYC: How Immigrants Are Coping With Daily Fear

ICE sightings in New York City jumped from 20 in June to 59 in July 2026, according to NYC Ice Breaker, a volunteer group that tracks and maps ICE activity. Queens alone accounted for 44 of those sightings — 48% of all five boroughs combined since early June. The spike is reshaping daily life for thousands of immigrants across the city.

E.C., a 55-year-old from Honduras who lives in Richmond Hill, Queens, now carries a transparent folder in his backpack every day he goes to work. Inside: a printed plane ticket to Honduras dated September 22, 2026, and printed emails from CBP Home representatives confirming his plan to leave the country voluntarily. He hopes those documents will convince ICE agents not to detain him if they stop him on the street. After submitting his flight information through the CBP Home app, a CBP representative told him he had a "99% chance" of not ending up in a detention center. E.C. has a pending asylum case with a hearing scheduled for 2028, a valid work permit, and a Social Security number — but he says he does not feel those documents protect him. "They just stop you on any corner and say: 'Hey, you look Hispanic, come with us,'" he told Documented. A May 2026 analysis by The City Reporter found that 93% of people arrested by ICE between October 15, 2025, and March 15, 2026, were Latino.

S.A.C., a 56-year-old Mexican woman who has lived in the Bronx for nearly three decades, works as a domestic employee and says she has watched ICE activity grow in her neighborhood. She told Documented she is especially worried about vulnerable groups — elderly people, those with depression, and people with disabilities. She has seen children spending the entire summer indoors, and she knows parents who skipped their children's college graduations out of fear of being stopped on Amtrak or while driving. Clara C., a Long Island resident and organizer with the nonprofit Las Doñas, said a friend's son self-deported to Colombia earlier this year after repeated ICE operations in the area. Her friend has not left her home in three months. Clara has been bringing her food. At a rally Monday afternoon at Corona Plaza in Queens, Assemblymember Catalina Cruz told the crowd the neighborhood was in a "war against ICE," describing immigrants detained on the way to asylum hearings and families separated without anyone knowing where their relatives were taken. Council Member Shekar Krishnan, who represents Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, and East Elmhurst, urged community solidarity: "If they come for one of us, they come for all of us."

What to do if you fear an ICE encounter

• Know your rights. You have the right to remain silent. You do not have to answer questions about your immigration status or where you were born. Say clearly: "I am exercising my right to remain silent."
• Do not open the door. ICE agents generally need a judicial warrant signed by a judge to enter your home. Ask them to slide any warrant under the door. A deportation order or an administrative warrant is not the same as a judicial warrant.
• Carry your documents. If you have a valid work permit (Form I-765 EAD), a pending asylum case notice, or any immigration court paperwork, keep copies with you. E.C.'s approach — printed emails and a plane ticket — shows how documentation can serve as evidence of your legal status or voluntary departure plan.
• Build an emergency plan. Identify a trusted contact who can act on your behalf if you are detained. Write down the phone number of an immigration lawyer or a local Know Your Rights organization before you need it.

Related: our step-by-step guide — “Your Rights During an ICE Encounter”.