Two months after Renee Good was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis, it’s still not clear how municipalities on the East End would contend with teams of ICE agents conducting random raids.
At the first East Hampton Town Latino Advisory Committee meeting in February, Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez was peppered with questions about how local police would respond.
In the meantime, Minerva Perez, the executive director of Organizacion Latino Americana, has been pushing local governments to craft legislation based on a draft her organization shared called the East End Public Safety and Accountability Law, that would clarify that response.
“The law doesn’t say that all ICE activity is bad,” she said in a call Tuesday. “But we are doing the job of having to train the public about what our local law enforcement can do in these scenarios. Turns out, it’s not a whole lot. However, right now when ICE comes to town, everybody throws their arms up in the air.”
“The reality is we need to do something,” she continued. “How they adapt it to work best for their municipality is up to them.” OLA held a Zoom meeting on last Thursday to discuss the law; it was attended by every town supervisor and mayor on the East End, she said.
By working with municipalities, OLA has tightened the proposed law since it was first contemplated. It is now in its third iteration.
Patrick Derenze, East Hampton Town’s public information officer, said the town board was waiting to review the latest draft, but that Ms. Burke-Gonzalez “is supportive of what they are trying to do to protect residents. We just need to figure out the details.”
In part, the legislation would require local police to report immigration enforcement activity to town or village leadership. It would also encourage local government to develop emergency protocols “to protect schools, hospitals, day care centers, elder facilities, houses of faith, nonprofits, workers, visitors, and families during enforcement activity.”
The draft law calls for the formation of a community task force on immigration enforcement in each municipality and also for prohibiting federal immigration enforcement operations on certain properties designated by the towns or villages. It suggests clear signage stating: “In non-public areas of this property, a judicial warrant is required for law enforcement activities and no voluntary consent may be solicited from any employee.”
“This law says that when ICE comes to town, or if anyone shows up with masks and guns, that local law enforcement would arrive at that scene,” said Ms. Perez.
The legislation was drafted with help from Fred Thiele, who retired after 29 years in the New York State Assembly and now serves on OLA’s board.
“My hope is that the enactment of consensus legislation will be a powerful response to the excesses of ICE that threaten community safety and local control in our community,” Mr. Thiele said. “As Martin Luther King said, ‘Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.’ Action is imperative.”
East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen said he was supportive and that the village attorney was working on legislation that would be introduced at the March 20 village board meeting.
“I’m optimistic it will move forward to public hearing in April,” he said Tuesday. “I commend OLA for putting together their rapid response team, but I don’t think that’s the job for civilians. That’s the job of trained police officers. We have a police force that can go and make sure it’s really ICE conducting these raids. You would think they would want to identify themselves and alert the local police when they’re working in the area, just for their own safety.”
“These raids have been very poorly managed,” he continued. “ICE is an embarrassment to law enforcement. They’re not following police procedures. You’re supposed to feel safer when law enforcement comes into your town. If our cops acted like those guys, nobody would have a job around here anymore.”
In her press release, Ms. Perez hinted at the same. “We are acting with urgency because we have already witnessed instances in which public safety has not been adequately prioritized during enforcement activities conducted by outside agencies on the East End. We cannot afford to wait for conditions to worsen or for trust to erode further.”
Apart from the potential legislation, Johanna Sanchez, a member of the East Hampton Latino Advisory Committee, and an immigration lawyer, had some practical suggestions for those whose lives might be thrown off balance by the threat of random ICE activity.
She suggests preparing ahead, almost in the way one might prepare if there were a hurricane swirling offshore with a limited time to act before it hit.
“Preparing ahead of time brings peace of mind and helps families protect their rights during an already stressful situation,” she said in a recent phone call.
At the very least, she suggested compiling important documents and sharing them with a trusted friend or family member. In case someone is taken by ICE, these documents could help family members or a lawyer help track and identify those detained.
Some items to consider organizing: birth certificate, marriage records, proof of citizenship or lawful status, school records or report cards for children, immunization records, family contact numbers, copies of green cards or work permits, immigration receipt notices and court documents, alien number (A-number) from any immigration paperwork, and immigration attorney contact information.
“People can keep these documents in a secure physical folder at home or with someone they trust. These documents can also be scanned and stored in the cloud or on a USB drive so they can be accessed quickly if needed,” said Ms. Sanchez.
She was also clear, however, that the information should be shared only with trusted sources.
“Any ICE officer can be disguised as a regular person,” she said. The first question one should ask if approached by an officer is, ‘Am I being arrested?’ They will say ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ but you should then ask for the order and verify that it has been signed by an immigration judge. That said, I understand in that moment how scary that would be.”
If ICE officers come to your house, Ms. Sanchez suggested not opening the door.
“If they are truly ICE and have a warrant they should be able to show you that through the window or slide it under the door. Then you can review the document. Let’s say they still break in. At that point, just remain silent and say you want to speak with an attorney. That’s the really hard part. I’ve heard stories where ICE says, ‘Sign this document,’ which is an expedited order of removal. If people don’t sign, they threaten that the person won’t speak with anyone for months. People who sign essentially sign their rights away.”
The next Latino Advisory Committee meeting is on Saturday at 8 a.m. at the East Hampton Town Senior Citizens Center on Springs-Fireplace Road.
