In the wake of the deaths of two American citizens in Minneapolis at the hands of federal officers involved in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdown in the city, hundreds of people here have signed up to be part of a Rapid Response team organized by Organizacion Latino Americana of Eastern Long Island.
The uptick began after Renee Good was shot on Jan. 7 and accelerated after the shooting on Saturday of Alex Pretti. The team now has over 300 members, according to Minerva Perez, executive director of OLA.
Rapid Response is a text alert system the goals of which include reporting the whereabouts of ICE agents and then showing up to witness and record their activities. Those who contribute are vetted by OLA.
“We are there to have numbers. We feel we are safer with numbers,” Ms. Perez said.
“The last thing I’m telling people is ‘You want to be out there,’ “ she said. “I’m not telling them to do this. They’re signing up. Our fellow countrymen and women understand the freedoms and promise of this country. They do not want to see it change so all they can do is hide at home when military actions are taking place in their community.”
The effort was promoted this week by East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, who, in a statement about the shootings in Minneapolis, described the Rapid Response initiative as “a community effort where volunteers act as peaceful observers to ensure our neighbors are treated fairly.”
“The main story isn’t about sharing information with people so they know their rights,” she continued. “The story is: We no longer have rights. Our Constitution is not in effect right now. We have watched people get publicly executed for walking away from chaotic situations involving masked men. There should be no level of comfort for this sort of activity.”
Ms. Good was shot in the head by a federal agent while in her vehicle; federal officials claimed she was attempting to run over an officer, but multiple analyses of videos taken at the scene do not support that assertion. Mr. Pretti was shot multiple times by federal officers, who said he was resisting arrest and was armed. He was holding a cellphone at the time and had a license to carry the gun, which did not appear to be in his hands, according to video footage reviewed by multiple news agencies.
In a statement on Monday, Representative Nick LaLota contrasted the political environment in Minneapolis, on which he placed much of the blame for the killings, to that in the First Congressional District.
“Elected officials must cool their rhetoric and clearly remind Americans that it is both illegal and dangerous to put your hands on a police officer, interfere with an arrest, or resist arrest yourself,” Mr. LaLota wrote. “Doing any of those things while carrying a loaded firearm or accelerating a vehicle towards a law enforcement officer only escalates the danger — for officers, for bystanders, and for yourself,” he wrote, adding that he supported an investigation into the shootings.
There have been at least five ICE enforcement operations near the twin forks since the beginning of President Trump’s second term, in Riverhead, Greenport, Westhampton, and Hampton Bays.
“ICE has deported nearly 100 violent illegal immigrants from Long Island without a Minneapolis-like incident because Long Island officials, unlike Minneapolis authorities, cooperate with ICE on intelligence-sharing, and our elected leaders from both sides of the aisle aren’t amping up their rhetoric like Governor Walz and Mayor Frey have,” he continued. “As such, a hypothetical ‘Long Island ICE surge’ is unlikely and unnecessary.”
“There’s no bubble thick enough to withstand this,” Ms. Perez said. “There is no reason why it won’t happen. There may be some truth to the idea that the rich and wealthy don’t want to see raids in the summer, but for others, it could be the perfect moment to prove their might.”
Mr. LaLota’s comments echoed those offered by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday. “This tragedy occurred as a result of a deliberate and hostile resistance by Democrat leaders in Minnesota,” said Ms. Leavitt. “For weeks, Governor Walz and the mayor, Jacob Frey, and other elected Democrats were spreading lies about federal law enforcement officers, who are risking their lives daily to remove the worst criminal illegal aliens from our streets. Murderers, rapists, pedophiles, human traffickers, and gang members.”
She pointed to a Harvard CAPS and Harris Poll from October that reported 78 percent of Americans support “deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have committed crimes.”
“There are many Latinos that would not oppose violent criminals being processed,” said Ms. Perez. “Violent offenders who have somehow gotten away. That was supposed to be Trump’s focus. But we have 10 police departments across the East End that have done a pretty good job in that regard. The federal response is undoing that good work. The actions that are happening now are making everyone less safe.”
The biggest problem she has with the immigration enforcement tactics used by the Trump administration is that they are not targeted enough. She says masked officers, especially when they show up at shopping centers, for example, only create fear and chaos.
“Even documented people don’t feel safe in public right now. You could be pulled into something just because of the way you look, and detained, which can be traumatizing,” she said.
In his statement, Mr. LaLota urged more cooperation with the government’s deportation efforts.
“Moving forward, sanctuary jurisdictions should turn over all criminal illegal aliens in their prisons and jails to federal authorities for prompt deportation, and the Trump Administration should reciprocate by ensuring that the majority of removals focus on violent criminal aliens,” he wrote.
Republicans — with full control of Congress and the presidency — have been in a political position to pass immigration reform, but Ms. Perez said she is not surprised that it hasn’t been their focus.
“Immigration reform has been in the hands of smart men and women across the years, even when the Democrats were in control,” she said. “But neither party does it because the use of immigrants as a leverage point has served many people well. Shame on those in power who have not made it happen.”
She suggested any reform needs to respect and understand what draws people to the United States.
“It’s about getting stronger and oftentimes, rebuilding. . . . We need to recognize the strength of the immigrant, not just with their manual labor, but with their entrepreneurial spirit,” she said. “They need to create the criterion for what it means for someone to be in this country lawfully. Some sort of amnesty and a clear pathway that doesn’t change every four years. Not just this ‘worst of the worst’ rhetoric.”
Mr. LaLota, as one of the original 18 Republican co-sponsors on a bipartisan bill (there are also 18 Democratic co-sponsors) called the Dignity Act, said he supports a pathway to citizenship.
“It offers the strongest framework to continue deporting the worst of the worst while restoring order to a broken system,” he wrote. “The bill prioritizes the removal of violent criminal illegal aliens while creating a strict, earned, noncitizen legal status for those here illegally who are nonviolent, come out of the shadows, pay a fine, work legally, and remain ineligible for benefits like Medicaid or food stamps.”
The legislation promises a lot and there are many details to discern. To highlight just one, Dreamers and those under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program would be provided conditional permanent resident status for 10 years with a pathway to adjust to lawful permanent residence through work experience, military service, or higher education.
The Dignity Program would apply to undocumented immigrants who have been in the country for more than five years (before Dec. 31, 2020). There are fees involved. The legislation would also raise the per-country cap set in the Immigration Act of 1990 from 7 percent to 15 percent.
“We have 26 scholarship recipients from OLA that represent young strength,” said Ms. Perez. “These are young people who have become nurses and financial managers. They’re not looking to get out of our country. They still believe in this country even when their parents are afraid to go out and get a cup of coffee.”
