Residents report possible ICE arrests in Monroe and South Blooming Grove

Residents in Monroe and South Blooming Grove called Straus News and the Blooming Grove Town Supervisor’s office after seeing what they believed were ICE arrests on Duelk Avenue and Merriewold Lane.

Blooming Grove Town Supervisor Robert Jeroloman said he went to the area with the police chief to investigate. By the time he arrived, residents told him that a few people had already been detained and taken into custody by federal officers, but Jeroloman said the officers were no longer there. “We’re trying to get confirmation,” he said.

The Town of Blooming Grove and the Town of Monroe both said they were not involved in any possible ICE enforcement action and had not been informed of one. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office said it had no information. The South Blooming Grove mayor’s office did not immediately respond. ICE did not immediately confirm or deny the activity and asked for the exact location of the alleged arrests before responding further.

The reports landed in a state policy environment that has pushed local governments to distance themselves from civil immigration enforcement. New York Attorney General Letitia James updated guidance in January 2025 to help local authorities adopt policies that limit participation in immigration enforcement activities. Governor Kathy Hochul announced the Local Cops, Local Crimes Act on January 30, 2026, with the aim of preventing local police and jails from being used for federal civil immigration enforcement.

Orange County has already been at the center of that debate. Reporting in late June said the county’s revised ICE agreement took effect on June 29, 2026, after earlier disputes over housing ICE detainees at the Orange County Jail. Separate reporting said the jail held nearly 200 ICE detainees without criminal charges earlier this year and that taxpayers were paying about $180 per inmate per day.

That backdrop made the July 9 reports in Monroe and South Blooming Grove especially immediate for residents, employers, and families watching for any federal presence in their neighborhoods. For now, the alleged activity remains tied to two named streets, a town supervisor’s on-the-ground check, and a series of unanswered questions from local and federal offices that were pulled into the matter as it unfolded.