Research shows U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement is not targeting immigrants with criminal records during mass arrests and deportations are negatively affecting New York State’s economy.
The Immigration Research Initiative’s new report found when arrests rose from January to May this year, many of those detained lacked a criminal record.
Chloe East, associate professor of economics at the University of Colorado and the report’s co-author, said while President Donald Trump campaigned on deporting immigrants who commit heinous crimes, they do not make up the bulk of who is being arrested.
“The majority who are currently impacted have no criminal conviction,” East explained. “Instead, the only potential violation they have is a civil violation of not complying with immigration law.”
The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a research-focused nonprofit, supported the findings with data showing more than 70% of people detained had no criminal record. TRAC’s research included data showing immigrants arrested during past mass deportations had at least minor criminal convictions.
A different report from the Immigration Research Initiative pointed out mass deportations may have drastic economic consequences, depleting New York state’s workforce and driving up the cost of living. Industries like hospitality, child care, farming and construction would face the brunt of workforce shortages.
East added just the fear of mass arrest creates major challenges to the economy.
“Immigrants are much more fearful about leaving their home when they hear about these types of raids, so they often don’t go to work, or don’t go to work as frequently as they would have otherwise,” East observed. “Which makes it really hard for businesses to continue to function.”
Researchers noted ICE is under pressure to meet new quotas established by the Trump administration but they have not met them yet. East argued ICE is responding to political rhetoric instead of a real problem.
“We see ICE responding to the higher quota of the number of daily arrests and we also see ICE targeting the Democratically-controlled cities Trump and his border czar were very explicit that they wanted to target,” East emphasized.
Edwin is a reporter and producer in North Tonawanda, New York. He’s previously reported for the Niagara Gazette and the Ithaca Times. Edwin got an early start in radio interning for WBFO-88.7FM, NPR’s Buffalo affiliate. In 2018, he graduated from SUNY Buffalo State College with a B.A. in Journalism, and in 2022, graduated from Syracuse University with an M.S. in Communications.