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 Immigrations 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 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 a raid earlier this 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. "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."
