Audit: ICE Entered NYC Hospitals, Facilities

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration used a May 22 audit to document how New York City agencies had been dealing with federal immigration enforcement — and where those practices had failed. The report said ICE arrests in the New York City area rose 71% between Jan. 20, 2025, and March 10, 2026, compared with the same span at the end of the prior administration, and that city agencies had seen more contact with federal officers as enforcement intensified. (nyc.gov) The most concrete finding was not just that ICE activity increased, but that officers repeatedly reached city spaces that sanctuary laws are supposed to shield. The mayor’s Feb. 6 executive order had already reaffirmed that federal authorities may not enter non-public areas of city property — including shelters, schools and hospitals — without a judicial warrant, except in limited circumstances. The audit, released Friday, was the city’s attempt to test whether agencies were actually operating that way. (nyc.gov) The report covered six agencies directly — the NYPD, Department of Correction, Department of Probation, Department of Social Services, Administration for Children’s Services and Department of Health and Mental Hygiene — while encouraging NYC Health + Hospitals to conduct a parallel review and training effort. City Hall said seven agencies will now adopt recommendations tied to access rules, information-sharing and staff training. (nyc.gov) One of the incidents driving the review came from shelters. The Department of Homeless Services reported what the audit described as a dramatic increase in immigration enforcement activity at shelters in the first half of 2025. City & State reported that the audit included cases in which federal officers pushed past workers to enter a shelter and, in another instance, initially identified themselves as FDNY employees before saying they were with the Department of Homeland Security. (cityandstateny.com) Hospitals were part of the policy response even where the audit’s public summary was broader than its incident-by-incident disclosures. Mamdani’s executive order and subsequent mayoral statements explicitly listed hospitals among city properties where ICE could not enter without a judicial warrant. That mattered because the administration said fear of immigration enforcement can deter people from seeking medical care and other city services. (nyc.gov) Another major finding involved the city jail system. The Department of Correction had been sending ICE daily reports on the national origin of certain noncitizens in custody since at least 2015, according to the audit and subsequent administration statements. City Hall said the practice served “no apparent city purpose” and would be discontinued. The report also said DOC received 895 civil immigration detainer requests in 2025, up more than 120% from the prior year, and responded to 24 by notifying federal authorities of a person’s release and facilitating transfer where city law allowed. (amny.com) The changes ordered after the audit were operational, not rhetorical. The Department of Social Services will revise protocols governing access to city property and parking lots. The Department of Probation will limit immigration-status information in presentencing reports. The Administration for Children’s Services will review court reports for improper inclusion of immigration status. Agencies will also expand reporting and training on contacts with federal immigration officers. (cityandstateny.com) The audit also landed in a political context. City Hall said the review followed two Department of Investigation reports last year that found sanctuary-law violations by the Department of Correction and the NYPD. Mamdani signed Executive Order 13 on Feb. 6, 2026, requiring agencies to audit their own practices within 90 days and creating an interagency response committee. Friday’s report is the public accounting of that process, and the next step is implementation by the named agencies under the mayor’s adopted recommendations. (cityandstateny.com)