DHS Removes Federal Immigration List From Website as East Hampton Town, Village Leadership Remains in the Dark

Confusion broke out last week when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security placed East Hampton on a now-removed list of “sanctuary” municipalities that it said were not complying with federal immigration law.

The publication of the list coincided with a stepped-up presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, on the East End, according to Organización Latino Americana Executive Director Minerva Perez.

The Trump administration issued an executive order early last month that required the publication of a list of supposed “sanctuary” jurisdictions that it said have defied federal immigration law. On Thursday, May 29, DHS published the list online, and it included East Hampton — though it did not specify town or village.

The list included 12 cities, towns and villages in New York State, one of which read “East Hampton,” along with 15 counties, including Suffolk County.

The federal government, then, was supposed to provide notice to the targeted municipalities that they were on the list and offer corrective actions.

But neither the East Hampton Town government nor the East Hampton Village government received any communication.

A press inquiry tipped the East Hampton Town leadership off to its placement on the list. As of Monday afternoon, the situation remained unclear.

On Sunday, June 1, however, DHS removed the online list, and the link directs to a “page not found” screen, as the previous page may have been “moved,” “deleted” or it is “otherwise unavailable.”

The removal came on the heels of a statement from National Sheriffs’ Association President Kieran Donahue, who said in part that the list was made without “any input, criteria of compliance or a mechanism for how to object to the designation.”

Donahue described the label as “arbitrary,” and he said it could strain the relationship between the White House and local sheriffs.

In his statement, Donahue said no political appointee could explain who “compiled, proofed and verified” the list prior to publication. He then called on the Trump administration to remove the list. The next day, the list disappeared.

Prior to its removal, the list stated that each municipality would receive formal notification of its status. Homeland Security then demanded that each jurisdiction revise and review its policies regarding immigration.

The publication of the list spawned ongoing confusion at the local level in East Hampton on Friday, as local leaders from both the town and the village had received no notice from the federal government.

Last week, while the list was active, Village Administrator Marcos Baladron said the East Hampton on the list was “not the village” — but town spokesman Patrick Derenze said the town government had not been notified either, leaving the status of both municipalities unclear.

“I was told it would apply to us if those policies were implemented in our local code,” Baladron said. “They are not.”

East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez and East Hampton Town Police Chief Michael Sarlo issued a statement that said many details about the federal list and the executive order “remain unclear.”

Nonetheless, Burke-Gonzalez and Sarlo both said the Town Police Department was in full compliance with all federal directives, and there was no reason to believe any of its policies or procedures would place it on the federal list. The department’s manual is fully aligned with federal law and consistent with those of all other local East End police departments, the pair said.

The town government is not defying federal law, the statement reads.

At the time, the supervisor and the chief said town leadership has not had any communication from the federal government on the matter, and the two reiterated that leadership was still unclear whether the list refers to the town or the village.

Nonetheless, Burke-Gonzalez and Sarlo said, upon formal notification, the town government will take the appropriate steps, but as it stood last week, it would have been premature for them to have speculated.

When asked if her organization had any idea that the federal list would be coming, Organización Latino Americana Executive Director Minerva Perez had one word: “None.”

Perez described the list as “thuggery at its core” and a fear tactic. Actions like this are not meant to honor the great work of local leaders, she went on, but instead they are meant to create instability that puts everybody in harm’s way.

The OLA director said the list coincided with a stepped-up presence of ICE on the East End. Recently, officers have been seen at regular seatbelt checkpoints in local areas, she continued. Separately, The Express News Group reported on what appeared to be an ICE stop in Hampton Bays late last week.

In all, the list was a way to tell local municipalities not to push back on the federal government or it will get worse as far as funding cuts, she surmised.

Burke-Gonzalez issued a follow-up statement that said the town took the situation seriously and it immediately began working with U.S. Representative Nick LaLota, County Executive Ed Romaine and representatives from U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer’s office on clarifying the issue.

All three were incredibly responsive, she said, and each acted to help the town government get answers while advocating on behalf of East Hampton.

“As we’ve said from the beginning, East Hampton is in full compliance with federal law,” she said.