The Department of Homeland Security may be technically shut down, but immigration enforcement in New York continues and so do efforts to track it.
Just before sunrise in Bushwick on a recent Thursday, four volunteers from NYC ICE Watch, a volunteer-run network that monitors immigration enforcement activity across New York, gather near a parking lot where ICE vehicles have previously appeared.
The street is quiet, storefront gates still down. Phones are out. They wait. The group relies on tipsters, neighborhood patrols, and social media alerts to track ICE sightings, verify vehicle descriptions and license plates, and warn communities when agents are active nearby.
The vigil highlights how immigration policing — and resistance — continue in full force even after the Department of Homeland Security’s annual funding lapsed weeks ago, as Democrats in Congress insist on changes to enforcement tactics.
“The shutdown doesn’t mean ICE stopped, so neither do we,” said one organizer from the volunteer group, who asked not to be identified for safety concerns.
Law enforcement operations are exempt from shutdown requirements, allowing immigration arrests and deportations to continue. Plus, ICE and Border Patrol are bolstered by billions of dollars in separate funding they can tap from President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
When a dark SUV pulls in and idles longer than expected in the Bushwick parking lot, one volunteer subtly nods. The group walks past at an unhurried pace, glancing at the plate and cross-checking it against a running list compiled from prior enforcement sightings.
“No, it’s not ICE,” said one activist, who remained anonymous for safety reasons.
“They’re just popping up everywhere,” the activist added.
Across town that same morning, a Columbia University student was detained after immigration agents allegedly told building staff they were searching for a missing child to gain access to an off-campus residential property, according to acting President Claire Shipman. DHS disputes the account. The student, Elmina Aghayeva of Azerbaijan, was later released.
A DHS spokesperson declined to provide details about ICE’s overall operations in New York, citing security concerns.
“For operational security, we do not disclose resources or numbers of personnel on the ground,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Every day, DHS is conducting law enforcement activities across the country to keep Americans safe.”
The spokesperson pointed to several recent arrests in New York, including individuals convicted of homicide, racketeering, rape of a minor, drug trafficking, and gang-related offenses, according to DHS.
DHS identified those cases as examples of what it described as “public safety threats” targeted in ICE operations.
Activists like those with NYC ICE Watch, who dispute that all those targeted are threats, are there to document operations and warn neighbors to avoid encounters.
The group didn’t end up encountering immigration officers during their recent Thursday morning patrol in Bushwick. But volunteers say this kind of around-the-clock work is necessary to alert their neighbors to possible activity across Brooklyn, Queens, and other areas where ICE has been seen.
Lawmakers appear no closer to a deal to restore the department’s funding, even as the immigration enforcement efforts that sparked the shutdown continue. Other DHS activity, meanwhile, faces major disruptions, with administrative staff furloughed, the Federal Emergency Management Agency pausing non-disaster work, and Customs and Border Protection suspending expedited entry for vetted travelers.
The department’s internal watchdog — which oversees immigration enforcement, among other things — has also been sidelined in the funding lapse.
The inspector general’s office was investigating ICE’s handling of excessive force allegations and the Border Patrol’s immigration enforcement work in US cities before the DHS shutdown furloughed hundreds of its employees and ground that work to a halt.
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