Thursday, October 1, 2026
Hundreds of Freeport residents gathered last Sunday for a candlelight vigil honoring Renee Nicole Good, who was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis last week, and calling on ICE to leave local communities, as speakers warned that immigrant families across Long Island are living in fear amid stepped-up enforcement actions.
The vigil was organized by Freeport resident Hazel Leon, founder of the advocacy group Así Vamos NY, and Claudia Borecky, of the South Shore Women’s Alliance. Faith leaders, activists, poets and community members took part in an evening of remembrance, reflection and calls for accountability.
“Seeing a woman get shot in her car was terrifying for our community,” Leon said. “This is a person that clearly cared for the immigrant community and it’s really sad to see that our country is divided right now in seeing that our immigrants are humans, and they also provide a vibrant diversity and also help our economy, too, and help our communities thrive.”
Leon said the vigil was organized in response to growing reports of ICE activity across the South Shore and Long Island. “They want the American dream just like our ancestors did once before,” she said of the immigrants the agency appears to be targeting. “They are a part of what makes Long Island so beautiful, and it’s really heartbreaking to see that across our country, they’re being harassed by their own tax dollars.”
Leon added, “Renee Nicole Good did not deserve to die.”
Speakers at the vigil described it as both a memorial and a collective stand against what they see as unlawful and discriminatory enforcement practices. Leon said that residents have reported ICE agents knocking on doors and asking for people who do not live at those addresses, and waiting outside homes for hours.
“You should have a judicial warrant in order to enter someone’s home,” she said. “That’s the law, and you shouldn’t try to grab somebody just because of the color of their skin.”
Borecky warned against the erosion of democratic norms and the normalization of fear. “As criminals giving themselves permission to remove people of color without question, the law doesn’t matter to them,” she said, referring to ICE agents. “The law is whatever [President] Trump says it is, and those who harbor or defend the others are named domestic terrorists. This allows them to silence us.
“We no longer wonder how Germans allowed their neighbors to be dragged away,” Borecky continued. “We no longer wonder how Russians believe that Ukraine invaded Russia. People are told not to believe their own eyes. Only believe what Dear Leader tells you.”
Borecky urged attendees not to retreat in the face of intimidation. “We cannot stop speaking up for those who can’t,” she said. “We cannot give in to the fear. Truth still matters. Humanity still matters.”
Nadia Molin, of the National Day Laborers Organizing Network, spoke in both English and Spanish, and condemned what she described as violence and brutality carried out by federal immigration authorities.
“I’m here … to condemn the murder of Renee Nicole Good and Santos Banegas Reyes, killed in the Nassau County jail,” Molin said, adding that families continue to wait for answers.
“The government is sending us a message every day that we should be angry and that we should be afraid,” Molin added. “But are we going to stay like this? No, we refuse to stay down, we’re gonna stand up.”
She urged unity and collective action. “The more we stand together as a community, the harder it will be for them to divide and to destroy us,” she said. “We will organize and we will win.”
Rabbi Ariel Naveh, a Wantagh resident and a member of Bend the Arc, a nationwide Jewish organization whose stated goal is to “build an American future free from white supremacy, antisemitism, and racism,”, reflected on the parallels between the current immigration climate and the early years of the HIV/AIDS crisis, when widespread suffering went largely ignored.
Reading excerpts from a speech on the AIDS crisis, Naveh described the isolation and disbelief that surrounded those deaths, and warned against repeating history.
“My friends, before the federal government even uttered the words HIV and AIDS. In 1988, over hundreds of thousands of gay men, drug users and all manner of people had passed away because they were not considered worthy,” he said. “My friends, we are not going to let that happen.”
Leon said that Así Vamos NY, which she founded last year, works to connect immigrant families with legal resources and advocates for state legislation, including the NY4All Act, which broadly prohibits state and local officers from enforcing federal immigration laws and the MELT Act, which would prevent ICE agents from wearing masks or other face coverings while acting as federal agents.
“We need to continue to debunk the narratives that are happening throughout our communities, that are scapegoating our immigrant neighbors into wrongful detainment,” Leon said. “We need to continue to champion legislation that will make the road for them to get a fair path to citizenship.”
Despite the fear many families are feeling, Leon said, the turnout for the vigil was a source of hope. “I hope that people continue to find common ground, regardless of party, and really start to see through the lies that some of the politicians are feeding them right now,” she said.
The vigil concluded with chants calling for ICE to leave Long Island, and organizers urging residents to stay engaged, support one another and continue showing up for future actions.
“It begins with us,” Leon said. “And it can continue to build when we show up for each other in times of need.”
