ICE agents arrest at least three in Riverhead sweep, advocates say

At least three people were arrested by federal immigration agents in Riverhead on Monday morning, according to eyewitnesses and volunteers with the nonprofit OLA of Eastern Long Island's rapid response network, who said the agents carried out a series of enforcement actions through residential and commercial areas.

The activity further rattled a community that's already on edge due to the stepped-up immigration enforcement tied to President Donald Trump's nationwide deportation campaign, said Minerva Perez, OLA's executive director.

"We're dealing with families on the other side of it that have been left without their breadwinner anymore, or have relatives who are sick, elderly folks or children," Perez said. "There's all this that happens in its wake and just cripples a community."

Throughout the morning, immigration agents were spotted driving unmarked cars and a white van in Riverhead, including in a Home Depot parking lot and at the New York State Police station, according to volunteers.

Elsewhere, two men in a minivan were approached by unmarked cars in front of an Applebee's on Old Country Road, according to a community member's Facebook Live and OLA volunteer accounts.

A passenger in the car did not have legal documentation and was arrested, OLA legal advocate Erika Padilla said.

Padilla said she activated OLA’s rapid response team, which responds to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in order to document it and to help those arrested, at around 8:30 a.m. after another volunteer told her she saw immigration agents near the state police station and Marta’s Deli on Riverleigh Avenue.

Another man was arrested in his car on Pulaski Street in front of Oscar Deli & Grocery, the OLA officials said. A third man was arrested while walking, advocates said. 

The OLA officials said they are working with the families of those arrested to locate them. Perez said none of the three has a criminal record. Newsday could not independently verify this.

It is possible more people were arrested, Perez said.

Officials with ICE  did not respond to a request for comment.

The ICE vehicles remained at the state police station for about 15 minutes when they could not proceed down the road due to a gathering of community members and family of those arrested, said Troop L spokesperson Brittany Burton in a statement. Community members honked their horns and at least one person shouted "no somos criminales" — "we are not criminals" in Spanish — according to a Facebook Live posted by Johanna Guanga, an OLA volunteer.

"The New York State Police did not work with or assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement regarding the raids in Riverhead Dec. 29, 2025," Burton said.