Advocates assail plan allowing Nassau police to work with ICE in deportation

Advocates for immigrants criticized Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s new alliance with federal immigration agencies, saying it will breed mistrust with law enforcement and make the county less safe.

The agreement gives federal immigration enforcement powers to 10 detectives from the Nassau County Police Department by “deputizing” them and allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to be stationed at the county jail. 

Melanie Creps, executive director of the Central American Refugee Center in Hempstead, said the policy “will have devastating consequences for our immigrant communities, eroding trust in law enforcement and making our neighborhoods less safe,” if people in the country illegally are afraid to report crimes to police. “No one should have to choose between their safety and the risk of deportation.”

Blakeman contends the agreement is necessary to help President Donald Trump in his campaign against what he calls out-of-control illegal immigration and in his plans for what he says will be the largest deportation effort in U.S. history. Trump has declared a national emergency at the southern border, saying in an executive order issued on the day of his inauguration that the “assault on the American people and the integrity of America’s sovereign borders represents a grave threat” to the country due to immigrants bringing in drugs and violence.

“If a crime is committed, the officers will then do a background check, and if the background check says that they’re here illegally or there’s a detainer out there, then they will get ICE involved and … detain those individuals until ICE can find a permanent place for them or deport them,” Blakeman said while announcing the agreement with ICE on Tuesday. 

At least one community leader said he fully backed Blakeman’s move.

“This should be done with all police forces throughout the whole nation,” said Barrett Psareas, vice president of the Nassau County Civic Association. “In order for Trump to carry out this mass deportation … as humanely possible, he’s going to need local authorities to give him a hand.”

While Blakeman and ICE contend they are mainly targeting people who are in the country illegally and have committed other crimes, some advocates predicted many others will be swept up in the efforts.

“ICE is a bull in a china shop and they’re going to destroy people, destroy communities here, and Nassau County is going to be helping them to do that,” said Nadia Marin-Molina, the Nassau-based co-executive director of the National Day Labor Organizing Network.

Patrick Young, a special professor of immigration law at Hofstra University Law School, said Blakeman’s agreement with ICE overturns years of policy in Nassau County.

“The Nassau County police have done a great job of building a strong relationship with immigrant communities,” Young said, adding Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder played a big role in establishing that relationship.

The Rev. Bill Brisotti, a Roman Catholic priest and longtime immigrant advocate, said Blakeman’s policy was a “mistake” that will alienate Long Island’s growing Latino community and more.

“It’s alienating and frightening a lot of people who are just trying to live and support themselves,” Brisotti said.

He noted the U.S. Catholic bishops conference and Pope Francis himself have spoken out in defense of migrants. The pontiff has called Trump’s crackdown a “disgrace.”

Angel Reyes Rivas, Long Island coordinator for the advocacy group Make the Road New York, called on Blakeman to rescind the policy and for Gov. Kathy Hochul and the State Legislature to pass the “New York for All” bill.

The legislation “would limit this cooperation between law enforcement and ICE across the state, making sure that everyone in New York does not have to fear being ripped apart from their families,” Reyes Rivas said in a statement.

“Local police are not immigration agents, and when they become agents our whole community suffers,” he said. “This agreement is bad policy that has already been debunked by many around the country.”

With Bahar Ostadan