NY has cause to be wary of an ICE 'surge'

Immigration has become a cold numbers game in Washington.

Last year the Trump administration began pushing for 3,000 ICE arrests per day, and more than a million deportations a year. By all accounts arrests and deportations have been on the rise but falling short of these very ambitious goals. Now Long Island has become a target.

As part of the push to increase the totals in New York, federal border "czar" Tom Homan told Fox News on June 8 that an expansion of operations is planned. "We're operating across the state today, but there's going to be a surge, and there needs to be a surge," he said.

Homan's latest vow came in the context of election-year clashing on the issue between Gov. Kathy Hochul, who signed a bill banning local law enforcement from formally cooperating with ICE on civil immigration enforcement, and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, her Republican challenger. In 2025, during his tenure, Nassau signed an agreement to provide such assistance.

Let's be clear. The federal government has legal control of immigration enforcement. But the states should have a legitimate say in what occurs within their borders, including the tactics and impact of surges and how residents are treated.

The president's ambitious arrest quotas suggest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are grabbing people first and asking questions later. Some turn out to be citizens or hold valid visas. Some are held in error. Claims that the priority is to catch the "worst of the worst" criminals are obviously false.

Worse yet, the Department of Homeland Security's fevered recruitment practices are again in question. On July 13, ICE Officer David Brouillette shot 25-year-old driver Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero during an attempted vehicle stop in Maine. Relatives told The Associated Press that Brouillette had serious mental health issues, a violent past and that he never should have a badge and gun. Guerrero is among 10 people fatally shot by ICE officers since President Donald Trump returned to office last year.

At least 84 of some 400 cases of ICE arrests on Long Island, reviewed by Newsday's news division, involved immigrants who were driving a vehicle, including traffic stops, in parking lots or after collisions. Thus a "surge" that goes wrong brings danger of ICE operations turning violent to Long Islanders broadly, not just targeted immigrants.

The impact on East End farms is devastating as ICE's presence scares away the migrant workforce. Federal visa programs for labor have proved expensive and cumbersome for farmers, who cannot find domestic labor to fill the slots. Without enough workers, those businesses shrink, endangering a cherished and vital part of Long Island.

Concerns caused by mass deportation efforts in both Nassau and Suffolk counties go beyond the posturing of Democrats and Republicans. DHS, ICE and Trump would do well to at least slow down and stop the numbers game. That might show New Yorkers that these federal laws can be enforced without systemic harm to individuals, communities and small businesses.