Anti-ICE rally brings out 250 in Hempstead, protesters saying the agency has damaged families, communities

Close to 250 people rallied in Hempstead Village Friday, calling for an end to the federal government’s mass deportation campaign and saying the raids by immigration agents have devastated families, businesses, and undermined communities’ relationships with local police.

Organizers said it was one of the largest anti-ICE protests on Long Island to date, and ran parallel to similar ICE Out protests around the country.

One of those at the rally, Amanda Garcia, 65, had a personal story to tell. She said her son, an El Salvador native who had lived in the United States for 27 years, was deported recently, despite having Temporary Protected Status. He left behind three children and his wife, she said.

Holding a sign reading "ICE Out of Long Island," she said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement needs to "stop making families suffer."

Barbara Kirk, 76, of East Islip, said she was at her second anti-ICE protest of the day. The first was in Riverhead.

"I believe that ICE is acting outside the laws in the Constitution," she said, including when agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis during protests in January. “ I think it’s horrible what they’re doing. “

The crowd included immigrant activists, members of church groups, and representatives of one branch of the League of Women Voters. As they marched through the streets of Hempstead Village, they chanted "Hey hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go" and other slogans.

Some bystanders gave a raised fist salute while others filmed the protest with their phones.

Hempstead Village, whose population is close to half Latino, has been a focal point of ICE raids on Long Island. Trump has said the deportation campaign is targeting dangerous criminals who are in the country illegally, though studies have shown most people detained by ICE have no criminal record.

Immigrant advocates on Long Island have organized networks to monitor ICE, while some community leaders have told the agency they are not welcome on municipal property. While public anger over the agency's tactics has grown in some quarters, especially after the fatal shootings in Minneapolis, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman continues to back the agency, initiating a partnership with the agency involving Nassau County detectives. 

Barrett Psareas, vice president of the Nassau County Civic Association, said he believed Trump’s deportation campaign is "working," but added that protesters are sometimes interfering with the agents’ work.

"They are aggressively and antagonizing and deflecting work for the ICE agents, "he said.

Hempstead Village police did not report any incidents at Friday’s rally.

Roellyn Armstrong, a parishioner at Saint Anthony’s Roman Catholic Church in Oceanside, said her faith was compelling her to attend.

"Everybody is our neighbor. We are commanded to love everybody, "she said.

Another member of the parish’s solidarity committee, Jill Hissong, of Rockville Centre, said, "As Catholics we’ve been taught that we have an obligation to stand up for the oppressed, the vulnerable, the weak, the poor. We’re just living out the gospel mission."

One protester, Daniel McElroy, 30, of Garden City, held up a replica of a gray tombstone with the name of an immigrant who died at Nassau County Jail in East Meadow in September while under ICE custody.

McElroy said that the Nassau County Police Department’s cooperative agreement with ICE is making many people "afraid to call the police."

Frances Whittelsey, 79, said she came with a contingent from the Huntington branch of the League of Women Voters.

"It’s disgusting," she said of the ICE arrests. "We need immigrant people to fill our jobs [in] all kinds of industries, agriculture, home care."