Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted an early morning raid in East Hampton on Monday, taking at least four people into custody, according to Minerva Perez, the executive director of the Organización Latino-Americana.
Details of the raid were scant, with Ms. Perez stating in an email that she had been called by a woman whose boyfriend was among those taken into custody. In an email, Ms. Perez said the woman reported that her boyfriend of four years called her from Yaphank to tell her he had been picked up by ICE agents.
Ms. Perez said he had asked an ICE agent if he had a warrant but did not receive an answer.
“We are still trying to learn how many others may have been detained and why,” Ms. Perez wrote on Tuesday. “We are working with one family right now. The man is currently being held in Orange County.”
“There was an enforcement action in the Town of East Hampton,” ICE spokeswoman Rachel Yow Yong confirmed in an email on Tuesday, adding that she would not be able to provide any details.
The raid was news to town officials.
Captain Chris Anderson of the East Hampton Town Police Department said ICE typically tips off Town Police when it is in town but did not do so this time. East Hampton Village officials also said they had heard nothing.
East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said he had asked Police Chief Michael Sarlo if he was aware of any activity by ICE and had been told that he was not notified.
Ms. Perez said she had been informed that the arrests were made at or near Damark’s Deli on Three Mile Harbor Road. On Monday, an employee said she had heard a rumor but had not seen any sign of ICE agents or anyone being picked up. Deli owner Bruce Damark said he checked the store’s security cameras from early that morning and saw no sign of any unusual activity.
Ms. Perez said she was concerned that the ICE agents appeared to be operating without arrest warrants and said her organization would work with those arrested to make sure they have lawyers.
She said she understood that some people will say that those in the country without papers have no legal standing, but she said pulling people off the street who are not criminals is not effective immigration policy.
“This is not how you create a healthy community, a healthy society or a healthy country,” she said, adding that Latinos who are typically the targets of the roundups are contributing members to the East End’s economy and community.
Stephen J. Kotz on Mar 10, 2020