Construction workers carted away. Deli workers detained. Restaurant kitchens understaffed because workers are afraid to leave their houses. NextDoor, the hyperlocal social media app, pings with word that four employees were taken from an East Hampton market.
Suddenly, it seems that officers from United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, are here, there, and everywhere. Or are they? While rumors abound, and a real “if there’s smoke there’s fire” sense descends across the East End, so far, “We have no confirmation of any formal ICE activity within our jurisdiction,” East Hampton Town Police Chief Michael Sarlo said in a statement last Thursday.
“There have been numerous unfounded rumors which surround social media posts of an E.S.U. [Emergency Service Unit] team training event in Sag Harbor, and our detective division conducting a routine neighborhood canvass during an active investigation of a crime committed in East Hampton,” he said.
“Our detectives work in plain clothes, and identify themselves by name, shield number, and agency ID, and our E.S.U. team uses clearly marked vehicles which represent the Sag Harbor and East Hampton Village Police Departments, as well as East Hampton Town Police Department,” he continued.
The Trump administration has called out so-called “sanctuary” jurisdictions for failing to cooperate with federal officers. However, it turns out “the feds” may not comply with local law enforcement either.
Department of Homeland Security “and ICE agents are under no obligation to notify local agencies of their activity, and we are attempting to debunk false rumors as quickly and accurately as we can,” the police chief said. “We understand the concerns, however, we also have an enforcement and investigative function we must continue to perform and cannot always proactively share information regarding our officers’ activity, nor can we always confirm or deny federal actions.”
East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen offered a similar message. “We’ve had no rumors of ICE activity in the village itself, and we have nothing from ICE asking for assistance or information about our area. In the past we’ve gotten notification if they’re going to do something. They’d let us know if they needed assistance. Nothing at this time. I think it would be important to do that. The way things are going though, I don’t know.”
After rumors of an ICE raid last week, Damark’s Market in East Hampton felt compelled to put out a statement, in English and Spanish, over social media. “There is a RUMOUR that Damark’s Market was raided by ICE Agents and that varying numbers of our employees were taken away. This is NOT TRUE! There was an after-hours altercation in our picnic area at about 10:00 p.m. The market was closed for the evening. East Hampton Town Police vehicles responded to the scene. These WERE NOT ICE Agents,” the market’s owners posted Wednesday evening.
The Sag Harbor Village Police Department put out its own statement about the planned monthly E.S.U. training, which took place at the Sag Harbor Cinema last week. “The Police Officers and Police Vehicles observed in the area surrounding the cinema have no affiliation to ICE or any other government agency. Training has concluded at this time.”
“My phone got blown up yesterday with the E.S.U. unit here,” Sag Harbor Mayor Thomas Gardella said.
Like other local leaders, he did not expect to get a heads-up from ICE if agents were going to conduct an operation in Sag Harbor.
“I watched President Trump’s press conference today. It was the first time I heard him say, talking about migrant workers on farms and in hotels, ‘We need to give them a pass.’ If they’ve been in this country for 20 years, working and abiding by the laws, somehow there should be a way to citizenship. From what I heard today, it sounds like reality is setting in. We can’t just deport everybody. That’s unrealistic. You can’t be ripping families apart. Nobody wants that.”
“The temperature is just so, so hot,” he said. “A lot of people are feeding into that.”
In a statement, Representative Nick LaLota said, “While about 75 percent of deportees have been violent criminals, federal law is clear: Individuals who entered the United States illegally or overstayed their visas are not permitted to remain. Allowing otherwise would undermine our legal immigration process.”
It appears Mr. LaLota took the 75 percent figure from a post on X by the Department of Homeland Security in response to a CNN headline that read: “Less than 10% of immigrants taken into ICE custody since October had serious criminal convictions, internal data shows.”
“FAKE NEWS,” read the D.H.S. post. “Secretary [Kristi] Noem has unleashed @ICEgov to target the worst of the worst — including gang members, murderers and rapists. In President Trump’s first 100 days, 75% of ICE arrests were criminal illegal aliens with convictions or pending charges.”
The D.H.S. post did not include a link or further context.
Mr. LaLota’s statement continued: “Having traveled to over 20 countries during my time in the Navy — including some of the most impoverished — I sympathize with those seeking a better life. But I urge anyone here unlawfully to consider President Trump’s ‘Project Homecoming,’ which offers a $1,000 exit bonus and a free flight home — a voluntary and dignified return for those willing to follow the law.”
As events and rumored events accelerated last week, culminating in the “No Kings Day” rallies in East Hampton, Sag Harbor, and throughout the country, a local expression of resistance to the Trump administration began to coalesce. Last week, an informal meeting in Amagansett brought together a diverse group of town residents including a clergyman and his spouse, an educator, an attorney, and a figure in the local arts community.
The group, most of them white, brainstormed as to how to assist Organizacion Latino Americana of Eastern Long Island, or OLA, which has launched a rapid response action plan to address ICE activity on Long Island. The group also shared ideas about direct assistance to undocumented immigrants who are living in fear.
The group must create guidelines for how to act, and not act, one said. Another suggested that ICE activity be documented with video and the recording of license plates. How can immigrants be made to feel safe while doing simple day-to-day activities such as going to work, the group pondered. People could sign up to drive people where they need to go, it was suggested, and volunteer to deliver goods from food pantries to those in need who are afraid to leave home. No one should escalate a tense situation or become violent, the group agreed.
“The overarching goal is to help the community feel safer, help immigrant neighbors feel safer and less afraid,” said Anna Skrenta, chairwoman of the East Hampton Democratic Committee. She described the effort as a work in progress, “but these are our intentions. We have to figure out the structure, but there are definitely a lot of folks in the community who want to take action to support folks who are afraid now. It’s taking shape.”
