Over 1,600 illegal immigrants arrested on Long Island, including gang members and murder suspects

The latest data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) indicates that over 1,600 illegal immigrants have been arrested in New York’s Long Island region since the beginning of this year, including numerous individuals with long criminal records, including members of the notorious MS-13 gang, murderers, and internationally wanted fugitives.

ICE revealed that since President Trump took office on January 20, the agency has significantly increased immigration enforcement efforts on Long Island, with continued cooperation from Nassau County law enforcement. County Executive Bruce Blakeman signed agreements authorizing ten local detectives to serve as ICE agents to assist in the arrest and detention of undocumented immigrants. The agency also allocated 50 county jails for the detention of immigrants, with over 1,400 arrested immigrants processed through these facilities to date.

ICE officials also stated that the over 1,600 individuals detained on Long Island all have criminal records; some have been deported, while others are still awaiting removal. The agency also listed the “most dangerous” individuals arrested, including members of the well-known MS-13 gang, convicted murderers, and international fugitives. However, ICE did not disclose how many of the more than 1,600 arrests involved serious crimes, how many involved minor offenses, or how many were arrested without criminal records.

It is reported that among the Long Island residents detained in recent months are bagel shop managers, community college students, and others with no serious criminal records. Blackman stated, “ICE prioritizes pursuing criminals, and when they identify criminals, others may be implicated.”

Nassau and Suffolk Counties currently cooperate with ICE’s “detainer requests,” which notify ICE before a specific suspect is about to be released so that they can arrest him or her on the spot. Detainer requests do not require court review. Between January and June of this year, Long Island issued 635 detention requests, mostly for young and middle-aged men from Central and South America. However, data from the UC Berkeley Removal Data Project indicates that most of these individuals had no serious criminal records. ICE has not confirmed the research team’s data.

Nassau County Democratic Councilman Seth Koslow will run against Blackman for county commissioner in November. Koslow advocates for only cooperating with ICE to pursue immigrants involved in violent crimes and opposes using county resources to pursue those without serious offenses. If elected, his election could change Nassau County’s current cooperation with ICE.