ICE Sued for Racially Profiling Immigrants in New York, Targeting Black and Brown Communities

A coalition including the New York ACLU, Make the Road New York, and the Legal Aid Society filed a class action lawsuit Wednesday in the Eastern District of New York accusing ICE and other federal agencies of racially profiling Black and Brown immigrants in New York. The suit alleges that these arrests are made without probable cause and rely solely on appearance and ethnicity.

“ICE is profiling and arresting Black and Brown New Yorkers based solely on their appearance,” said Meghna Philip, Director of the Special Litigation Unit at The Legal Aid Society. “This is an egregious violation of their civil rights that has caused fear and panic to ripple throughout New York’s immigrant communities.”

The plaintiffs include individuals like Juan Carlos Quintero, arrested while playing dominos in Staten Island, and a Hispanic man stopped outside his Brooklyn apartment. Another plaintiff, a 24-year-old Hispanic City University graduate, was detained on his way to the Long Island Rail Road. All three were released after emergency legal challenges.

The lawsuit cites reporting from THE CITY documenting a surge in street arrests by immigration agents. Between October and March, 800 New Yorkers not targeted in immigration investigations were arrested, 85% of whom had no criminal record. The suit claims DHS agents routinely stop Latinos based on language spoken and appearance alone.

DHS denies the allegations, stating arrests are based on reasonable suspicion consistent with the Fourth Amendment. “Any allegations ICE law enforcement engages in racial profiling are FALSE,” a DHS spokesperson said.

This wave of racial profiling follows a 2025 Supreme Court concurring opinion by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, which allowed immigration officials to consider race, ethnicity, or language as one factor in enforcement decisions. This ruling, stemming from a lawsuit over immigration raids at Home Depots in Los Angeles, has emboldened agents to use race as a basis for stops — a practice critics call “Kavanaugh stops.”

The lawsuit underscores a broader pattern of racialized immigration enforcement that violates constitutional protections and terrorizes immigrant communities. It calls for accountability and an end to discriminatory policing that undermines justice and civil rights in New York and beyond.