A ‘Surge in the Shadows’: New Lawsuit Alleges Discriminatory, Warrantless ICE Arrests in New York

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are conducting a “surge in the shadows” in New York driven by arrests based on racial profiling, according to a new class action lawsuit filed Thursday in the Eastern District of New York.

Workers’ Center of Central New York, together with eight Latino men and women from across New York state, allege in the court filing that the Trump administration is unlawfully targeting Latino New Yorkers and other people of color during immigration arrests, causing irreparable harm.

The nearly 100-page lawsuit details the arrests of over a dozen immigrant New Yorkers to underpin its argument that such suspicionless stops — based on the perceived race of suspects — and the subsequent warrantless arrests, are widespread. The suit cites reporting by Documented that showed a seismic surge in arrests in the New York City area as well as its impact on immigrant New Yorkers living on Staten Island.

The lawsuit comes more than a year after the Trump administration launched its crackdown on immigration, which led to nearly 3,000 street arrests in New York City in the first six months of 2025.

“It can happen almost anywhere,” said Harold Solis, an attorney from Make the Road New York who represents the plaintiffs. “It can be just by walking down the block, going to work … nothing about that activity is unlawful or raises any suspicion, it’s just the way the person looks.”

An unnamed spokesperson at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wrote in an email that any allegations that ICE engages in racial profiling are “FALSE.”

“Law enforcement officers use ‘reasonable suspicion’ to investigate immigration status and probable cause to make arrests consistent with the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court has already vindicated us on these practices,” the statement read.

Officials at the Department of Justice (DOJ), and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) declined to comment on ongoing litigation.

“In some future [I hope] they can see us the same way they see citizens… that they don’t discriminate against us because of our facial features.”

—Rene Antonio Benitez, a plaintiff in the case

The lawsuit was filed by eight New York State residents and the workers rights organization Workers’ Center of Central New York. All claim to have been impacted by discriminatory immigration arrests while going about their daily lives — from driving their child to work, to getting on a train, or just walking down the block.

“In some future [I hope] they can see us the same way they see citizens… that they don’t discriminate against us because of our facial features,” Rene Antonio Benitez, a plaintiff in the case, told Documented.

The 36-year-old father, who was detained while driving his teenage daughter to school on Long Island, said he participated in the lawsuit because he felt frustrated by the government’s treatment, which has had lasting impacts on him and his family.

“You feel really sad because you leave the house and you don’t know if you’ll come back,” he said.

The group is suing the heads of various government bodies involved in immigration enforcement, including: the Department of Homeland Security; the Department of Justice; Immigration and Customs Enforcement; U.S. Border Patrol; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and the U.S. Marshals Service.

While the suit encompasses stops and arrests made across the state, it details many of the ways plaintiffs believe the government’s campaign of mass arrests has specifically impacted New York City.

The lawsuit alleges that New York City, like the state as a whole, has been targeted by the government due to its sanctuary laws, quoting border czar Tom Homan saying that “sanctuary cities are going to get exactly what they don’t want: more agents in the community and more collateral arrests.“

The lawsuit alleges such arrests have led to a quota-driven enforcement campaign achieved through “ruses and trickery,” led by officials and agencies who often recruit using so-called “dog-whistles” and white supremacist messaging.

In New York City, lawyers allege the first mass arrest took place on Jan. 28 of last year, when 30 teams of federal agents began arresting immigrant New Yorkers city-wide. The lawsuit also cites large subsequent raids, such as the raid on Canal Street — targeting West African New Yorkers — and at a Jamaica, Queens Home Depot.

Since then, the lawsuit reads, ICE has targeted high-density immigrant neighborhoods in the city, citing checkpoint arrests of Latino residents in the Queens neighborhoods of Corona, Jackson Heights and Flushing.

Plaintiffs also cited Documented’s reporting that ICE targeted Latino residents in places like food pantries in Staten Island’s Port Richmond neighborhood — leading to residents avoiding services meant to help them find food or work.

“ICE runs this coordinated campaign of race-based stops, without any individualized suspicion about immigration status, particularly in low-income and immigrant neighborhoods and during commuting hours when residents of those neighborhoods are likely to be going to and from work or taking their children to and from school,” read the suit.

Two individual plaintiffs had direct ties to New York City.

Hesler Garcia Lanza, 24, who graduated magna cum laude from the City University of New York and works in theater lighting design, had been approved for humanitarian protection for young immigrants neglected or abused by their caretakers. He also had no criminal history, according to the suit.

But that didn’t stop him from being arrested by ICE on his way to work earlier this year.

While headed to the Long Island Railroad for his job, he was approached by an unmarked SUV that nearly hit him. He was afraid he was about to be robbed, but he was instead surrounded by three more vehicles and multiple ICE agents.

According to the lawsuit, Garcia allegedly showed agents his work authorization but an agent said “we’re going to take him with us anyway,” and arrested him without a warrant.

After two days in detention, Garcia was released by a federal judge — but now struggles with anxiety and the everpresent fear of arrest solely because he is Latino, the legal filings stated.

Also Read: Half of ICE Detainees at Brooklyn Prison Have No Criminal Record: Documents

Another man identified by the initials A.M.C. was trying to enter his apartment building in Bushwick when he was approached by a Spanish-speaking ICE agent in plain clothes, according to the complaint.

He was shown a photo of a man with a mustache and asked if he recognized him — he did not — and then was asked if he had any documentation of his own legal status. At that point, more officers jumped out of their vehicles and surrounded him, while at the same time letting a white woman pass by unbothered by questions about the photo, according to the legal filing.

Despite the fact that he was a 14-year resident of New York and father of two U.S. citizens, A.M.C. was arrested without a warrant and told he was being detained because “he did not recognize the man in the photograph,” read the complaint.

Though he was eventually released by a federal judge, he is now scared every time he leaves his home because he fears another arrest by ICE “merely because he is Latino,” said the suit.

“What’s surprising is how little regard there’s been in some of these situations for people’s lives,” said Solis, adding that while every plaintiff’s experience was harrowing, he thought Garcia’s arrest was particularly shocking.

“College graduate, magna cum laude, has deferred action, has his entire life in front of him here,” he said. “And he’s just trying to get to work, is trying to do everything ‘right’ by trying to obtain lawful status in the long term, but in the meantime has the government’s blessing to be here. And yet he gets arrested and has to spend time detained. And that experience is harrowing.”