ICE Agents Entered Hospitals And City Buildings, NYC Audit Reveals

NEW YORK, NY— New York City officials created recommendations to how agencies handle federal immigration enforcement after an internal audit documented a sharp rise in ICE arrests, repeated attempts by federal agents to enter city shelters and new scrutiny over information-sharing with immigration authorities.

The 19-page audit, ordered under Executive Order 13, reviewed interactions between city agencies and federal immigration authorities after what officials described as an intensified federal enforcement campaign across the City.

The report found ICE arrested 5,567 people in the New York City area between Jan. 20, 2025, and March 10— a 71 percent increase from the same period under the previous administration.

More than half of those arrests took place at immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, according to the report.

“At ICE’s Lower Manhattan Office on Elk Street, media reporting describes the stories of at least 15 people who were arrested over the course of one day in 2025 at routine and mandatory ICE check-ins,” the report said.

The audit described a home health aide from Guyana arrested by masked agents while a friend watched outside the building.

A mother and child left another appointment in handcuffs while relatives waited inside “nervously await[ing] their own fate.”

The review covered the Administration for Children’s Services, Department of Correction, Department of Probation, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Department of Social Services and the New York Police Department. New York City Health + Hospitals participated voluntarily.

The report documented repeated confrontations between federal agents and shelter staff.

In February 2025, seven Homeland Security Investigations officers “carrying guns and wearing facemasks” entered a shelter to detain a resident, according to the audit. The report said officers pushed past a shelter employee who was trying to photograph a warrant and send it to agency lawyers for review.

In another case, Homeland Security personnel identified themselves as FDNY officers before acknowledging they worked for Homeland Security after a city employee requested identification.

Federal officers from ICE, HSI, the FBI and the DEA visited shelters at least 23 times between April and August 2025, according to the audit. Officers requested access for “wellness checks” on children and sought information about specific residents. In some cases, officers left after staff denied access without judicial warrants.

The audit also documented encounters across multiple agencies.

ICE agents at a Brooklyn probation office asked to use the bathroom before attempting to look through a sign-in book, according to the report. Staff members intercepted them, requested identification and escorted them out after learning they were ICE agents.

The Administration for Children’s Services declined a request for information about a minor in juvenile justice custody. The Taxi and Limousine Commission denied a Homeland Security Investigations request for a driver license application.

The Department of Correction received 895 civil immigration detainer requests from ICE in 2025, a 120 percent increase from the previous year, according to the report.

The City responded to 24 of those requests, 2.7 percent, under exceptions allowed by local law.

The NYPD received 3,672 detainer requests during fiscal year 2025, up from 99 requests the year before. The department did not transfer any people to ICE custody in response to those requests, the report said.

The audit also revisited findings from two Department of Investigation reports released in 2025.

One report found a Department of Correction investigator improperly helped Homeland Security Investigations track the release of a detainee from Rikers Island, leading to an arrest outside the jail. DOI concluded the violation was not intentional and recommended stronger training and oversight.

A second DOI report found an NYPD officer violated city policy and local law by honoring a federal request tied to civil immigration enforcement. The officer was removed from a federal task force assignment and faced disciplinary action, according to the audit.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani ordered the review through Executive Order 13, signed Feb. 6, 2026. The order created an Interagency Response Committee led by the first deputy mayor and directed agencies to examine compliance with city sanctuary laws and reporting requirements.

The audit resulted in new citywide protocols governing how agencies document requests from federal immigration authorities, handle access to city property and train frontline employees.

Under the new recommendations, agencies must report all interactions tied to immigration enforcement, including subpoenas, warrants and attempts by federal agents to enter city facilities without authorization.

“As of April 7, 2026, as prescribed in EO 13, 100 percent of mayoral agencies have received training on Identifying Information Law compliance from the Chief Privacy Officer,” the audit said.

Here are all the recommendations from the City:

• Require annual refresher training for city employees and contractors on immigration enforcement rules, reporting requirements and interactions with federal agents.
• Expand audits of employee emails and internal communications to identify improper contact or information-sharing with ICE and other federal immigration authorities.
• Require agencies to report all immigration-related interactions, including subpoenas, warrants and unauthorized attempts by federal agents to enter city facilities.
• Shift city reporting requirements from annual disclosures to quarterly public reports on detainer requests and federal immigration inquiries.
• Standardize how agencies track and disclose civil immigration detainer requests.
• Revise shelter security protocols after multiple incidents involving unauthorized entry by federal agents.
• Review and update signage marking public and nonpublic areas inside shelters, hospitals and other city facilities.
• Prohibit caseworkers from referring immigrants to 26 Federal Plaza and instead connect them with immigration attorneys.
• Require NYPD leadership and legal officials to respond to 911 calls involving ICE activity or immigration enforcement matters.
• Increase supervisory and legal review before NYPD shares information with federal agencies outside criminal investigations.
• Limit the inclusion of immigration status in presentencing investigation reports and other city documents where it is not required.
• Audit court reports and agency files to prevent unnecessary references to immigration status.
• Require ACS staff to consider alternatives before seeking orders of protection that could trigger immigration consequences for parents.
• Stop the Department of Correction from sending ICE daily reports identifying noncitizens admitted into custody with qualifying convictions.
• Create formal guidance for hospitals and medical staff when ICE transports detainees to city facilities for treatment.
• Strengthen oversight of technology vendors and data-sharing contracts involving sensitive personal information.
• Publish updated agency policies online and require all agencies to continuously review and revise protocols tied to federal immigration enforcement.