ICE arrests of 3 Long Islanders an effort to silence, deport activists, advocates say

A Freeport chaplain and a pair of fellow activists, all focused on filming the actions of ICE agents on Long Island, are in federal custody after their arrests as part of what advocates say is a new effort to target, silence and deport anti-ICE activists.

Miriam Burga Mendez, 48, a native of El Salvador and a chaplain for area hospitals and other institutions, was taken into custody June 16 in the parking lot of a church in Freeport while filming ICE agents in the area, according to the advocacy group Long Island Immigrant Justice Alliance. Ricardo "Chelito" Arevalo, of Copiague, who has filmed the activities of agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and posted the footage on social media, was also arrested June 16 while driving to work, the alliance said in a statement.

Kerin "Romero" Rodriguez, 33, of Central Islip, and originally from Honduras, was detained June 8 outside the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Hauppauge as he recorded ICE agents, the alliance said.

Federal officials denied ICE was targeting or trying to silence activists and said the three people were arrested because they lacked legal immigration status.

Sending a message

"They're trying to send a message of intimidation to stop people from defending the community," said Nadia Marin-Molina, a leader of the alliance. "The question when somebody tries to take away the cameras is, what are they hiding? What don't they want everybody to see?"

The activists typically film ICE agents in action and send out live alerts on social media to warn the public of their whereabouts.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, defended the agency's actions.

“These allegations are FALSE,” Lauren Bis, the acting assistant secretary of DHS, said in a statement to Newsday. “ICE did NOT arrest activists for filming them — all three of these subjects are illegal aliens with no right to remain in the United States.”

Burga Mendez illegally entered the United States in 2003 and had an outstanding order of removal from 2004, but failed to leave the country, Bis said.

“This illegal alien will remain in ICE custody, pending removal,” Bis added.

Burga Mendez is being held in an ICE jail in Louisiana. Arevalo and Rodriguez are being held in an ICE jail in Pennsylvania.

Prayer for wife's freedom

Burga Mendez is a member of Federal Chaplains of USA Ministry, a New Jersey-based nonprofit that provides volunteer spiritual support to local police, hospitals, nursing homes, churches, FEMA and the Red Cross, according to the group’s website. Members wear badges identifying themselves.

"Our mission is to serve God and our community," the group states on its website.

Rene Antonio Vanegas Caravantes, Burga Mendez's husband and also a chaplain with USA Ministry, said she had been helping in area jails, hospitals and nursing homes, as well as with immigrant children.

"I just ask that God have mercy," Vanegas Caravantes said in Spanish, praying for his wife's freedom.

President Donald Trump has said his mass deportation campaign is targeting "the worst of the worst" — dangerous and violent criminals who are here illegally. Burga Mendez has no criminal record, according to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office and a database check by Newsday.

Even if the activists were here without legal immigration status, Marin-Molina said, they were clearly targeted since ICE agents knew who they were and went after them. Burga Mendez, for instance, was sitting in her car in a church parking lot filming ICE when agents approached, her husband said. They smashed her car window after she refused to open it while asking to see a warrant, he said.

The DHS’s Bis said that "as part of a targeted enforcement operation, officers approached Burga Mendez and informed her of a warrant for her arrest. Officers repeated lawful commands several times, in English and Spanish, for Burga Mendez to exit her vehicle but she refused to comply. Officers followed their training and used the minimum amount of force necessary to make the arrest."

Advocates said they see the alleged crackdown on activists as part of a new phase as ICE takes a lower profile in the wake of widely publicized confrontations in Minneapolis and other American cities, and simultaneously tries to shut down the public’s ability to see federal immigration agents in action.

The federal government this month charged 15 anti-ICE activists in Minneapolis with crimes including conspiracy and assault against immigration officers.

"If you silence the people who are speaking out about it, then they can do whatever they want," Marin-Molina said, referring to ICE.

ICE agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January, Renée Good and Alex Pretti, provoking widespread protests and a congressional freeze on funding for the agency.