Hochul running mate visits Long Island businesses struggling amid ICE raids

Hempstead Village business owners who say a federal immigration crackdown is keeping customers away from their doors were visited by politicians Saturday who voiced concern over the Trump administration's ongoing deportation efforts.

Small businesses in the area have seen diminished foot traffic and fewer customers since President Donald Trump ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to drastically ramp up their deportation efforts, Newsday has reported.

Adrienne Adams, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor in the gubernatorial race between Gov. Kathy Hochul and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, visited restaurants Saturday alongside Hempstead Village Mayor Waylyn Hobbs Jr. to discuss the rising concern among business owners about the consistent presence of ICE.

Monzures Juarez Crescencio, the owner of Dulcemania II, a sweets shop on North Franklin Street, said the business he and his brothers have run there for the past seven years is hurting.

"Business is very, very bad," he said. "People are scared, afraid to come out."

Inside Dulcemania II, Adams, the former New York City Council speaker, said, "The rules have to change with regard to ICE."

The agency "has just been given this mandate to do whatever they want to do, and they have become a horrible example of law enforcement for this entire country."

The presence of federal immigration officers on Long Island has become a political flashpoint amid the governor's race between Blakeman, whose administration has forged a partnership with ICE, and Hochul, who has been a staunch opponent of the deportation effort.

Blakeman's office has rented Nassau County Correctional Center cells to ICE, a deal that brings a nightly rate of $195 per detainee, and designated 10 detectives to serve as immigration officers, Newsday has reported.

"Adrienne Adams advocates for illegal migrants to be able to vote, against the opinion of 80% of New Yorkers," Blakeman said in a statement to Newsday, apparently referring to her support for a failed New York City law. He added that the issue of business owners struggling "is a completely fabricated issue used as a smokescreen for her real agenda  which is to marginalize and dilute the votes of hard-working citizens." 

Blakeman, whose running mate is Madison County Sheriff Todd Hood, has said the program is centered on removing criminals from communities.

Between late January 2025 and early August 2025, ICE said it arrested more than 1,600 people on Long Island with prior convictions. Chris Boyle, a spokesman for the county executive, said in an email that number has risen since.

Through the first year of the partnership between the county and federal officials, ICE data showed most immigrants jailed do not have criminal records. Nationally, more than 73% of people held in ICE detention do not have a criminal conviction.

Local concern, limited power

Marcelino Garcia, who owns La Fonda Deli on North Franklin Street, said through a translator Saturday that customers are fearful to go out into on the street.

He felt "as business owners that they don't have the support" of officials. "We don't know what we'd do without our clients, the folks coming into our restaurants," he said.

Hobbs, who said he has instructed his police force not to let ICE gather on village property, said the presence of immigration officers is a federal issue and that he has limited power. "I wish that I had the ability to tell ICE that they can't come in Hempstead. I could make a declaration, I could make a decree, but it would just be smoke and mirrors," Hobbs said.

He encouraged residents to vote and said those stopped by ICE can dial 911 if they feel their rights are being violated.

During the visit, Nadia Marin-Molina, an immigrant advocate who has worked in Hempstead for decades, spoke to Adams and Hobbs about a pending bill — NY4ALL — that would effectively stop local government partnerships with federal immigration enforcement. 

In an interview with Newsday, Marin-Molina said there is an urgency to give answers to communities affected by ICE enforcement.

"It's not enough for anyone to say, 'wait until November and vote,' " she said. "It underestimates the level of crisis."

Crescencio said the tables in his restaurant, once filled during peak times, are now often empty. Some customers who used to dine in now only pick up their food and leave.

"If it continues like this, I think a lot of businesses are going to go down," he said.