Latino advocacy group urges East End towns, villages to report ICE activity

A Latino advocacy group is pushing East End towns and villages to share reports about federal immigration activity with the public following recent arrests that have rattled the region.

The proposal also seeks to empower East End police departments to check federal agents' identification and scan their vehicles — at times unmarked — using license plate reader technology.

OLA of Eastern Long Island, a nonprofit based in East Hampton, is lobbying East End municipalities to adopt a five-page proposal setting standards for reporting on and interacting with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The measure would require towns and villages to notify the public about federal immigration agents' activities if their police officers were part of a response.

Minerva Perez, OLA's executive director, said the measure would alleviate anxieties heightened after recent ICE raids in the region. The arrests earlier this month of three longtime Greenport residents set off a wave of fear, leading to children staying home from school, Newsday has reported.

About 38% of Greenport's population is Hispanic. At least 20 people have been arrested on the East End since President Donald Trump's administration ramped up operations to deport undocumented immigrants, Perez said.

“We’ve got safe and peaceful communities on the East End,” Perez said during a recent Southold Town Board meeting. “There are times when the safety and the peace is broken. ... Any town, any village would want to have a response to that … an actual rock-solid plan that says: ‘This is what happens when this level of disruption comes to town.’ ”

Town officials across the East End said they plan to review OLA's proposal, noting that they want to consult with their police chiefs and attorneys. The Southold Town Board has formed a task force that can be consulted on federal immigration policy; the task force also would review the nonprofit's bill.

ICE representatives did not respond to requests for comment about the measure.

Earlier this month, New York Attorney General Letitia James said her office would deploy legal observers to monitor and document ICE raids. In January, Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed legislation banning police departments from signing cooperation agreements with ICE.

More tracking urged

OLA has coordinated groups to observe and report on the activities of immigration agents locally, and has tracked East End detentions, arrests and ICE sightings. But the group wants the region's towns and villages to take a more direct role in the monitoring process.

Town and village officials have said their departments do not coordinate with federal agents unless ordered through a judicial warrant. They are not typically notified of immigration raids in advance, officials have said.

“This is not a preemptive resolution to stop ICE from coming to town,” Perez said. The legislation acknowledges the federal government’s authority to enforce immigration laws, and it states the plan is not meant to interfere.

The proposal calls for law enforcement on the East End to investigate suspected impersonators of federal agents, and to run the license plates of “any group of persons or vehicles where an articulable threat to public safety exists.”

Across the nation, multiple people have been arrested for allegedly impersonating ICE agents, according to published reports, though no such incidents have been documented on the East End, Perez said.

The proposal also requires towns and villages to establish a task force that can be consulted about immigration enforcement.

The legislation was drafted by former Assemb. Fred Thiele (D-Sag Harbor), who serves on OLA's board.

Officials pitched

Perez pitched the legislation to the Shelter Island and Southold town boards during recent public meetings.

About two dozen community members, still reeling from the arrests in Greenport, urged town board members in Southold and Shelter Island to take a stronger stance against ICE. They said police should verify immigration agents' identification and observe and investigate their actions.

Southold voted on Feb. 10 to create a task force to examine the “health, safety and welfare concerns associated with federal immigration policy.” The task force will review OLA’s legislation as well as several pending state bills aimed at limiting cooperation between local police departments and federal agents.

“We can’t be naive. There is absolutely no reason to think that someone won’t be killed here in Southold,” said Ted Thirlby, of Southold, referring to the fatal shootings of two Americans in Minnesota by ICE agents in January.

Some town officials said the recent ICE raids should be handled with the same speed and seriousness as other emergencies, including storms. While there are plans in place for storms, floods and other crises, the towns should also set protocols for responding to raids, they said.

"We can monitor if a storm’s coming or not, but this is unpredictable,” Southold Councilwoman Anne Smith said.

At the meetings, several town officials suggested taking a regional approach.

“I think if all the East End towns are working together and coming up with a plan, then it has more power than if everybody is just kind of bringing it on their own,” Shelter Island Councilwoman Margaret Larsen said.

While immigration agents have not arrested anyone on Shelter Island, town officials said arrests in neighboring communities have caused fear and alarm. Board members agreed to draft a letter to ICE requesting more transparency, similar to a letter sent by the Town of Southold in December.

Southampton Town Supervisor Maria Moore said the town and its police department were reviewing OLA's bill.

“I don't know that it's something that we're going to adopt as written, because what they're suggesting is things that we already have protections in place," Moore said in an interview. The proposal has been sent to the town board and police chief, she said. “We are considering what they prepared, and we'll respond when we have the opportunity to discuss it,” she said.

East Hampton’s town board will review OLA’s proposal at an upcoming work session, a town spokesman said.