In June, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration could end the temporary protected status program for Haitians, it was clear that thousands of immigrants in the city would become vulnerable to deportation. Border czar Tom Homan had recently promised “more ICE agents than you’ve ever seen in New York City.” And nowhere seemed more exposed than Little Haiti, the enclave at the intersection of Church and Nostrand Avenues in East Flatbush that is the heart of one of the largest Haitian expat communities in the country. Since the federal government announced the official end of TPS for Haitians in July, people have been afraid to show themselves. “We’re seeing less folks outside,” says Rita Joseph, the city councilmember for the neighborhood.

So far, the city and its half a million undocumented immigrants have been spared the shock-and-awe approach that engulfed Minneapolis, Chicago, and Los Angeles. But that does not mean Homan’s pledge was an empty one. Instead of raids with camera crews in tow, the ongoing deportation campaign here has been “diffuse,” says Deborah Fleischaker, who was ICE chief of staff under President Biden. “It’s less of a show of force,” she says, “but the force is the same.”

ICE appears to be spreading across the city. There have been multiple sightings in Bushwick, Inwood, and East Flatbush. Detentions are on the rise with “at least 21 confirmed abductions” just in the last week of July, according to Murad Awawdeh, head of the New York Immigration Coalition. (The count the previous week was two.) As we speak in Little Haiti, Joseph is interrupted by an alert on her phone. “ICE is in Corona,” she says, reading from a group chat. “They picked up one person.”

It’s uncertain whether ICE’s operation will look like this through the summer or if we are just seeing the prelude to a larger surge. The threat of masked federal agents storming the streets still hangs over New York. The Trump administration has not backed down from its pledge to increase deportations. “It’s closing time,” a Homeland Security........

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