U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is "disproportionately" detaining Latinos in New York State, led by Ecuadorians, according to an analysis by the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) in collaboration with academics Chloe East and Elizabeth Cox of the University of Colorado.

The document is based on more than 252,000 ICE administrative arrests nationwide and reveals deep and consistent patterns of enforcement.

The central conclusion: Immigration enforcement is not only stricter against Latin American immigrants, but also systematically unequal.

Mario Bruzzone, NYIC's vice president of policy, called ICE's actions "discriminatory" and urged state legislators to intervene.

"Latino communities are being targeted in their own homes and neighborhoods, often regardless of their criminal history," he said. His warning comes at a time of growing tension between local and federal authorities regarding the scope of immigration operations. Community arrests are on the rise and disproportionately affect Latino men with no criminal record. The data presented in the report paints a profoundly unequal picture of immigration. In New York State, Ecuadorians account for 24.9% of ICE arrests, followed by Mexicans (9.9%), Guatemalans (8.4%), Hondurans (6%), and Colombians (5.1%). Paradoxically, none of these groups exceeds 6% of the state's immigrant population. The disparity is accentuated by the fact that immigrants from Central and South America make up 25% of New York's foreign population, but account for an alarming 64% of arrests. For Professor Chloe East, the pattern is clear: "Latino communities, especially men, are being disproportionately targeted by ICE." In that sense,Latino men appear to be the primary target, accounting for 89% of arrests, even though they represent only half of the immigrant population nationally and even less within the state. The report's authors highlight a trend ignored by the media: the increase in community arrests—outside of court proceedings—which have fueled the overall rise in immigration operations. The report also notes that this trend marks a shift from the prevailing strategy during the Biden administration. In recent years, ICE relied on "court-arrested" arrests linked to criminal cases; however, currently in New York, there are five community arrests for every one of those, reflecting a more aggressive and expansive approach. Detention sites include private homes, construction sites, street corners, and workplaces where many immigrants work without criminal records or pending legal proceedings. For researchers, this reality not only erodes immigrants' trust in institutions, but also destabilizes entire neighborhoods. The report's main findings include: