Thursday, March 20, 2025
As immigration enforcement ramps up across the state, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman made it clear at a news conference on Feb. 4 that the county’s police were “enthusiastically” willing to cooperate.
“If you are a criminal and you are here illegally, then of course the program will take effect and we will take action,” Blakeman said, promising that 10 county detectives would be empowered to aide Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in a countywide “targeted” crackdown.
Almost immediately, questions swirled over whether county detectives, embedded with ICE, would have carte blanche authority to detain and question anyone on the street.
Patrick Ryder, the county commissioner, affirmed that the ten ICE-deputized detectives hold the same authority as ICE agents. Thus, they can question anyone during their investigations, and anyone else found to be in the country illegally during their arrests, he warned, will also be taken in. Then, just two days later, clouded by backlash and confusion over the hazy limits on ICE-empowered detectives, Blakeman sought to clear the air.
He posted a bilingual public service announcement on his official Facebook page — striking a sharply different tone.
He assured that the county’s new enforcement program is exclusively intended to clean house of undocumented immigrants with criminal backgrounds, not punish those who — while living here illegally — have committed no other crime.
“To mis amigos (To my friends),” said Blakeman in a stifled Spanish. “Mi county es su county. (My county is your county).”
But critics argue in a county where so much as a low-level offense could put undocumented immigrants in ICE’s crosshairs, the threat of deportation has never been greater — and the lives of an estimated 50,000 immigrants made more precarious as a result.
“If ICE targets parents outside of school, it can cause psychological trauma for students who witness these events,” said Edward Pichardo, co-chair of ERASE Racism.
“We’ve already seen children stop attending school during the pandemic, and this could worsen if families are afraid.”
While Blakeman sought to douse fears over the launch of the new enforcement program, ICE anxieties among Valley Stream leaders and residents were percolating even sooner. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump gave permission for ICE agents to conduct their searches in and around churches and school campuses: a decision that has placed school districts like the Valley Stream Central High School District on high alert.
“Pre-emptive steps” are being taken to limit cooperation with ICE officials, said Superintendent Wayne Loper, in a letter to parents.
“We are consulting our legal counsel on how to respond appropriately to the challenges that might arise relative to our immigrant student population, including the potential of ICE officers appearing at our schools’ doorsteps,” wrote Loper.
Blakeman vowed there would be no school raids, no questioning of children about their immigration status, no parents fearing that packing their children off to school means an ICE officer lying in wait for them.
But to some Valley Stream Central students, fears of the worst-case scenario haven’t faded. Students admitted to knowing little about Trump’s policy of allowing ICE officials in schools — and even less from their teachers or administrators. Yet, when presented with a possible run-in with ICE, most of their thoughts turned toward the prospect of seeing classmates vanish and families torn apart.
“I think it’s going to make people feel really unsafe,” said Valley Stream Central student Divjot Singh. “At any day, someone’s son or daughter can get taken away and parents can’t really do nothing about it. It’s sad. It’s really heartbreaking.”
Hanzala Khalid, a junior at Valley Stream Central and a second-generation Pakistani immigrant said schools are supposed to be “a safe environment for everyone.”
“Even if that person or their parents are illegal, they still live in this community, they have friends and family,” he said.
We are “holding Bruce Blakeman at his word,” said Maribel Canestro, co-founder of the Valley Stream Latino Society. “Having said that, I would encourage parents to not let their guard down.”
Canestro, a parent and community leader, fears the chilling effect ICE has on the mental health of students and whether debates about their enforcement will become an open sore — increasing rates of bullying and harassment.
“Unfortunately, when we’re confronted with times like these, children sometimes could say words that can affect their classmates’ mental health. Words like: ‘You know they’re sending you back home,’” she said. “It’s always disheartening when neighbors report on neighbors.”
But while some view ICE’s presence as a source of anxiety, immigration enforcement veterans like Bruce Foucart, a retired ICE official, argue that if executed properly, the executive’s new program could be an effective tool for rooting out real criminals. County detectives, he contends, are invaluable to ICE officers, helping to sharpen their investigative focus and zero in on undocumented immigrants who pose a genuine criminal threat.
“Detectives are the eyes and ears of the community,” said Foucart. “They generally know who the (criminal) players are, where the fake document mills are located, where the bad guys hang out.”
He stressed that ICE officers are expected to exercise “professional discretion” to avoid indiscriminate arrests. However, while their top focus is on “criminal aliens,” he acknowledged that investigations may lead to encounters with others of uncertain legal status known as collateral arrests.
“If a person can’t positively identify themselves, ICE officers have the authority to bring them in,” Foucart said, citing reasonable suspicion as the threshold for further action.
Additional reporting by Ainsley Martinez.
