ICE arrests 3 in Greenport, and a quarter of students not in schools amid activity, officials say

One-quarter of students in the Greenport school district stayed out of school on Wednesday as reports of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and arrests swept through the community, creating fear, chaos and anger, officials and advocates said.

Three longtime area residents with no criminal records were arrested by federal agents as part of President Donald Trump's mass deportation campaign, Latino community leaders said. They identified them as Alexandro Rivera Magaña, Martir Zambrano Diaz and Hugo Leonel Ardon Osorio.

The ICE enforcement action, one of the most visible on the East End in months, stirred panic and frustration across the village as advocates called it a troubling escalation after weeks of heightened activity and demonstrations. The arrests came as the Trump administration this week said it would pull 700 immigration agents out of Minnesota, suddenly ended an "enhanced" operation in Maine and faced continuing national scrutiny over deadly confrontations between agents and civilians in Minneapolis.

Southold Town Police Chief Steve Grattan confirmed ICE was in Greenport on Wednesday but said he had not received information from the agency about arrests. ICE did not respond to a request for comment.

Greenport Superintendent of Schools Beth Doyle said many families kept their children home, most likely out of fear of the agents’ presence. The district decided to keep all students on campus throughout the day and not allow seventh through 12th graders to leave for lunch as they typically can, she said.

Many residents were alarmed by reports that an ICE vehicle was near Greenport elementary and high school, which are housed in one building, Doyle said.

"There is fear out there," she said.

Raids denounced

Greenport Mayor Kevin Stuessi denounced the raids. "It's a tragedy to see parents being separated from children, and then doubly troubling to see all the fear with local students and families as federal agents were swarming the village this morning," he said.

Residents described early morning scenes of chaos as agents barreled down village streets in pursuit of migrants. Some residents came out blowing whistles, filming the agents and telling them to get out of the community.

"Waking up at 7:30 to a bunch of dudes chasing down someone, wearing masks and vests and guns. It’s just like, why?" said Elber Ochoa, a resident of Ludlam Place, where agents were seen. "People deserve to be relaxed at home with their children, not be torn apart, tortured and traumatized ... That’s the most horrid thing I’ve ever heard, that you’re traumatizing children now."

Magda Rodriguez, 22, said she left her job as a teacher's assistant at a private school at 9 a.m. since all six students in her special education classroom were absent. She spent the day driving around and looking for ICE agents so she could send out alerts as part of an anti-ICE rapid response team.

As she stood outside a supermarket Wednesday afternoon, she broke into tears as she recounted what she said was the trauma being inflicted on the community and the sense she and others were nearly helpless to do anything about it.

"Imagine a kid getting off a bus, not knowing where their parents are," she said. "Imagine if that kid ... needs help."

Minerva Perez, executive director of the nonprofit OLA of Eastern Long Island, said the three men arrested had all lived in the area for more than 20 years and had no criminal record.

One has a newborn baby, she said.

"It's a terrible feeling to see a community that is a healthy, peaceful community broken apart like this," she said.

No criminal record

Trump has said the campaign is targeting dangerous, violent immigrants living in the country illegally. Several studies have shown that most of those arrested have no criminal record.

Rivera Magaña's wife sat in her tiny, rundown apartment Wednesday afternoon absorbing the news of her husband's arrest. She said in Spanish that the 46-year-old native of El Salvador had worked at local vineyards for more than a decade, cutting and planting grapes, among other duties. Newsday is not identifying her for her safety.

He left home for work at 6:30 a.m. and apparently was arrested about 6:40 a.m. along with a co-worker, Zambrano Diaz, near a 7-Eleven close to the school, she said. Her husband called her briefly about 10:30 a.m. to say he had been arrested by ICE and not to worry.

One of her six children is autistic, and the youngest is 5, she said. A part-time restaurant worker, she is not sure how she will survive without her husband's income, she said.

"I'm a little nervous but just the same trust in God that if he will let us stay here more years, that's the way it will be," she said in Spanish.

The raid in Greenport followed one in Brentwood on Tuesday when more than two dozen protesters confronted vehicles said to be carrying ICE agents. The protesters blew whistles, honked horns and yelled in English and Spanish.