The League of Women Voters of East Nassau invited legal experts for an in-depth look at evolving immigration policies at a recent forum at the Levittown Public Library.
Residents spoke with experts, hoping to separate fact from misinformation amid a rapidly changing national landscape. The event featured speakers from the Central American Refugee Center, known as CARECEN, who outlined major federal policy shifts and their real-world impacts on immigrant communities.
Andrea Sacasa, a legal counsel with the Suffolk County Office of New Americans and a representative of CARECEN, said the goal of the presentation was to provide clarity during a time of uncertainty.
“We know that there’s a lot of misinformation, a lot of fear, and so our goal is to tackle that with straightforward facts and information,” Sacasa said. She explained that CARECEN, a Long Island-based nonprofit, offers a range of services to immigrant communities beyond legal aid.
“We provide free legal services, but we also have community programs that range from English classes to naturalization classes,” Sacasa explained. The organization frequently partners with community groups such as the league to host free educational events and legal clinics.
Sacasa and another presenter, Kate Churchill, a pro bono scholar and legal intern at CARECEN, detailed several major immigration developments since early 2025, including changes to asylum processing, enforcement practices and federal legal rulings.
One of the most significant updates involved a temporary pause on asylum applications earlier this year. While the pause has been partially lifted, Churchill said that applicants from dozens of countries designated as “high risk” remain in limbo.
Another major concern among the attendees was increased immigration enforcement at courthouses. Sacasa described how people attending hearings were, in some cases, detained immediately afterward. “They were leaving the courtrooms and getting detained right outside,” she said. “The judges didn’t even know this was happening.”
The forum also addressed leadership changes in the U.S. Department of Justice, and their potential impact on immigration courts, as well as the expiration of Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from Haiti, which could leave hundreds of thousands of Haitians at risk of deportation.
Attendees raised concerns about enforcement practices and the broader immigration system. “It shows you how broken the system is,” one attendee said during the discussion.
In addition to policy updates, Sacasa highlighted the human impact of immigration enforcement, including efforts to help families prepare for potential separation through legal guardianship planning. The discussion concluded with a look ahead to a pending U.S. Supreme Court decision on birthright citizenship, expected later this year.
Despite the complexity of the issues, speakers emphasized the importance of staying informed and engaged. “Each of us has a role to play,” Sacasa said, “even if it’s just trying to stay informed.”
The League of Women Voters ended the meeting with treasurer Carol Bergman presenting a donation to the CARECEN. “We are all immigrants — we all came from somewhere — so thank you for your work,” Bergman said.
