Audit: ICE Entered NYC Hospitals, Shelters

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration released an audit on Friday that found federal immigration authorities repeatedly entered New York City shelters, hospitals and other city facilities despite local rules meant to limit access without a judicial warrant. The 19-page report, issued under Executive Order 13, reviewed incidents since January 2025 across multiple agencies and recommended new protocols, training and reporting requirements. The audit comes as immigration enforcement in the city has increased under President Donald Trump’s second term, according to the report. It also identified one long-running practice at the Department of Correction that officials said the city is moving to stop. ### What did the audit say happened inside city facilities? The May 22 report said city agencies documented incidents in which federal immigration officers entered or attempted to enter shelters, hospitals and other government property. The audit reviewed interactions involving six agencies and examined whether staff were following sanctuary-city rules on access, information sharing and cooperation with federal authorities. Documented and amNewYork both reported examples described in the audit, including a February 2025 incident in which seven masked and armed ICE agents pushed past homeless-shelter staff to detain a resident. Another case involved agents at a Department of Probation site who asked to use the bathroom and then tried to inspect a sign-in book, according to those reports. A separate incident last June involved Homeland Security officers who misrepresented themselves as Fire Department personnel, Documented reported. ### How much did immigration enforcement increase? The city’s report said ICE arrested 5,567 people in the New York City area between Jan. 20, 2025 and March 10, 2026. That was a 71% increase from the same number of days at the end of the previous administration, according to the audit. More than half of those arrests took place at immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, the report said. (documentedny.com) In 2025, the Department of Correction received 895 civil immigration detainer requests, up more than 120% from the previous year, according to the audit and amNewYork’s account of it. The report also said NYPD officers saw a 3,600% increase in requests to hold people for immigration authorities, according to Documented. ### What was the Department of Correction doing? (nyc.gov) The Department of Correction had been sending daily reports to ICE on certain noncitizens in custody since at least 2015, amNewYork reported, citing the audit and city officials. The audit said that practice was not required by federal, state or local law and recommended ending it. City officials told amNewYork the administration had decided to discontinue the reporting, though they did not give a precise date for when it stopped. (amny.com) The audit also said DOC notified federal authorities of release dates and facilitated transfers to ICE custody in 24 cases where city law allowed, without holding anyone beyond the end of a sentence. ### What changes did the city order? Executive Order 13 was signed by Mamdani on Feb. 6, 2026, his 37th day in office, according to amNewYork and Patch. The order reaffirmed that federal authorities may not enter city property without a judicial warrant, directed agencies to audit their interactions with immigration authorities and created an interagency response committee. (amny.com) Faiza Ali, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, said in a statement reported by Documented that the findings and recommendations would strengthen agency protocols and help ensure New Yorkers can access city services regardless of immigration status. Documented reported that the Department of Social Services will revise protocols and training on access to city property and shelters, while NYC Health + Hospitals will create new guidance for staff when ICE brings someone for medical care. (amny.com) ### Where does this go next? Friday’s audit lays out the city’s next steps in concrete terms: revised agency rules, more training for public-facing workers and contractors, and new procedures for tracking interactions with federal authorities, according to amNewYork. The report itself, published by the Mayor’s Office on May 22, 2026, is the administration’s formal record of the incidents and the recommendations agencies are expected to implement under Executive Order 13. (documentedny.com) (amny.com)