Report: ICE arrests of New York’s Asian immigrants increases 600% under Trump

Asian immigrants in New York have faced a sevenfold increase in arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since Donald Trump took office last January, according to a new report.

The new analysis by Stop AAPI Hate, a nonprofit that runs the nation’s largest reporting center tracking hate against AAPI communities, examined ICE activity involving individuals from Asian countries from Jan. 20, 2025, to March 10, 2026. The report found arrests in New York were seven times higher under the Trump administration than during the previous administration.

The report found that New York State ranks third nationwide in ICE arrests for these populations during that period, behind California and Texas. In total, there were 1,425 arrests of individuals with Asian citizenship in New York State compared to 205 arrests of Asian immigrants during a similar time period during the Biden administration. 

Chinese nationals accounted for the largest share of people with Asian citizenship arrested by ICE in New York since Trump returned to office, taking up 37 percent of arrests involving individuals from Asian countries, followed by India, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan.

The organization said its analysis relies on processed datasets and methodology from the Deportation Data Project. The figures reflect total arrests rather than unique individuals, meaning some people may have been arrested more than once. The Stop AAPI Hate report pulled data that reflects people from Central, East, South, and Southeast Asia, as well as the Pacific Islands.

To compare the Biden and Trump administrations, researchers analyzed two time periods: December 1, 2023 to January 19, 2025, and the first 14 months of the second Trump administration. The report notes that the data excludes actions by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and that is also missing state-level data for about 8 percent of arrests and potential inaccuracies in ICE datasets.

The trend extends beyond New York. Nationwide, arrests, detentions, and deportations of people from Asian countries have all risen significantly since Jan. 20, 2025, according to the report. Overall, enforcement actions against this population are five to seven times higher than under the previous administration.

The report also found that 68 percent of Asian detentions involved individuals with no criminal history — roughly nine times higher than under the previous administration. In addition, these detainees were held an average of 46 days longer than non-Asian detainees, increasing their exposure to potentially inhumane conditions. Researchers noted that longer detention periods are partly driven by some countries’ refusal to accept deportees.

Manjusha Kulkarni, co-director and co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, said the spike in arrests of Asian individuals in New York and nationwide is driven by what she described as the Trump administration’s targeting of immigrants of color through deportation policies and enforcement, as well as rhetoric that she said dehumanizes Asian immigrants and normalizes profiling. She pointed to several recent high-profile cases, including a nearly blind, non-English-speaking refugee from Myanmar who was found dead this February after being released by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Buffalo.

“When our government ramps up these policies and encourages ICE to profile people, states with large Asian populations are heavily impacted,” Kulkarni said.

Grace Meng, chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), echoed those concerns.

“This report confirms what we have been hearing from our communities: Asians and Pacific Islanders are being targeted by the Trump administration to meet its arbitrary deportation quotas,” she said in a statement. “Predominantly Asian neighborhoods in New York — including Flushing, Elmhurst, and Woodside — have seen a rise in masked, untrained agents detaining people solely based on their accent or appearance.”

For some Asian community advocates in New York, the findings come as little surprise. Carlyn Cowen, chief policy and public affairs officer at the Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC), said the data aligns with both current observations and longer-term trends.

“This data makes sense to us, both anecdotally in terms of what we are seeing with community members, but it’s also part of a bigger, long-standing trend,” Cowen said.

“Asians and Pacific Islanders are being targeted by the Trump administration to meet its arbitrary deportation quotas.”

—Grace Meng, CAPAC chair

Citing a 2019 report from the New York City Comptroller, Cowen noted that Chinese immigrants have made up the largest share, about 21 percent, of immigration court cases in New York since fiscal year 2016, while AAPI individuals overall accounted for nearly 40 percent.

Asian community members and organizations in New York say the ratcheting up of immigration enforcement practices is already being felt on the ground, describing the changes as “alarming.”

Yanhai Wan, president of the Information for Chinese Immigrants, a Flushing-based nonprofit serving Chinese immigrants, said that in recent months he has seen multiple instances of individuals using ICE as leverage against immigrants, particularly asylum seekers and undocumented individuals, with whom they have personal disputes, including conflicts between landlords and tenants and in romantic relationships.

“It’s becoming more prevalent, and it’s alarming and problematic,” Wan said in Mandarin. He added that many new immigrants arrive in the United States expecting greater freedom and security, but instead face the risk of having their immigration status used against them. “They never expected that someone would exploit their status as a weakness, which can cause serious trauma for new arrivals,” he said.

A member of a Flushing-based community organization serving Asian immigrants, who asked to be identified as F.Y. for privacy concerns, said the report’s findings reflect what she has observed over the past year.

“I’ve heard many incidents of Chinese asylum seekers being arrested during what they thought were routine check-ins,” she said in Mandarin.

She noted that a surge in Chinese migrants entering the U.S. during the pandemic — often referred to as “walking the line” at the southern U.S.border — has left many navigating the asylum process while remaining vulnerable to enforcement actions.

According to F.Y., this dynamic creates a difficult choice for asylum seekers: comply with legal requirements and risk detention, or avoid contact with authorities and eventually jeopardize their cases.

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Kulkarni added that the impact extends beyond enforcement itself. “Immigrant families are questioning whether the promise of the American dream still exists for them,” she said. “Fear of deportation, family separation, or losing status even after years of waiting for a green card, makes it difficult for people to plan long term, whether that’s sending their children to college or starting a business. The future feels overshadowed by instability.”

Advocates say the surge in law enforcement targeting Asian immigrants is also placing a significant strain on immigrant-serving organizations.

“We’ve seen twice as many clients at this time, end of April this year, than we did this time last year,” said Cowen.

Since Trump took office, Cowen said CPC has seen a sharp increase in demand for legal and immigration services, particularly with support for linguistic access. “We were really fortunate to get funding from the New York City Council to do this work, but the reality is that the demand for it is much, much higher than our capacity to provide it,” Cowen said.

Meng said dozens of Asian constituents have contacted her office seeking help for loved ones detained by immigration authorities, and her office has heard directly from AAPI families who are increasingly fearful about their daily activities.

To address these concerns, Meng said the CAPAC has translated “Know Your Rights” materials into nine Asian languages and is using its congressional authority to hold the administration accountable, including conducting oversight of ICE detention facilities, calling for investigations into deaths of Asian immigrants in custody, and attempting to block funding for immigration enforcement agencies until reforms are enacted.

Meng added that CAPAC is also working with local AAPI organizations nationwide to elevate community voices and document the impact of federal immigration policies on Asian communities. 

Community organizations are also adapting to the shifting landscape. Cowen said the organization is working to expand its services while increasing outreach to keep community members informed about important policy changes and available resources.

F.Y. added that local groups have also taken additional steps to protect themselves, including expanding “Know Your Rights” workshops, organizing ICE watch groups, and connecting immigrants with legal support.

“This is a moment when communities need to stand together and support one another,” said F.Y.