Early Sunday morning, federal immigration agents returned to the area for the second time in less than a week, using the parking lot of a Suffolk Credit Union in the Southampton hamlet of Riverside as a staging area.
It was not immediately clear how many, if any, local residents were detained. A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Word spread quickly through the Hispanic community in the surrounding hamlets of Flanders, Northampton and Riverside, among the poorest areas in Suffolk County. By 10 a.m., several dozen Hispanic men and women had gathered in the parking lot, half-surrounding what appeared to be an ICE vehicle idling with its engine running and agents inside, as members of the crowd blew whistles and shouted insults at the agents, including calling them “dogs,” “cowards” and “trash.”
Having apparently identified a Hispanic member of the immigration enforcement team inside the vehicle, people began shouting for him to come out and speak with them, repeatedly asking what he tells his family about the work he does. Others yelled that there are no criminals in the area, only hard-working people.
The incident drew a response from Southampton Town police and New York State Troopers, whose Riverhead barracks are located nearby. At one point, a Spanish-speaking Southampton Town police officer shows a man a copy of a town police report and tells him, “Nobody is mad — we just want to keep the peace here.”
A Southampton Police lieutenant told the North Fork Sun that the department had no connection to the ICE operation.
“We were flagged down by a resident in the area,” he said, when asked if the department was coordinating with federal agents. “We’re not connected to this.” He said that to his knowledge, the department had not been notified ahead of time of federal agents’ presence in Riverside.
A spokesperson for Suffolk Credit Union told the Sun that the union “was not notified that ICE was planning to use our branch parking lot, and such activities were not authorized or coordinated with the Credit Union. The Credit Union is grateful to the Southampton Town police for maintaining peace and that everyone walked away without incident.
“Our top priority is, and always will be, providing our members and employees with a safe, secure, and welcoming environment to conduct their banking and financial business.
“As a financial institution, Suffolk Credit Union complies with all applicable laws and legal requirements. We do not control the actions of external agencies that may be present in public areas near our locations, nor can we interfere with their operations.”
The confrontation followed similar ICE actions last week on the North Fork, including detentions in Greenport and a reported arrest in Riverhead, according to eyewitnesses who spoke to the Sun and a press statement from OLA of Eastern Long Island.
Early Wednesday morning, federal immigration agents carried out operations in several locations in Greenport, detaining three local men and prompting fear and frustration throughout the community.
Around 6:30 a.m., agents in unmarked vehicles pulled in behind a man waiting in an SUV at the Greenport North Ferry dock, according to an eyewitness. “They pulled in line behind the guy, and all we saw was the lights,” a North Ferry employee told the Sun, adding that there was little drama. “They were just talking to him. And then he got out, and they took him … no fighting, no yelling, no arguing.”
The man was later identified as Hugo Leonel Ardon Osorio. Two other men — Martin Zambrano Diaz and Alexandro Rivera Magana, whom neighbors told the Sun live on Ludlum Place — were also detained. In a press statement, OLA said the men had no known criminal backgrounds and had lived in the United States for more than 20 years.
On Friday, the Suffolk Times reported that Osorio works for a masonry company on Shelter Island and that the other two men work at Pindar Vineyards in Peconic.
Also that morning, agents conducted an operation on Ludlum Place in Greenport, where multiple eyewitnesses said an unidentified man fled on foot after being stopped by federal agents. Neighbors reported that residents and activists gathered, filmed the agents and shouted for them to leave.
Parents soon began arriving at Greenport High School — which has a majority Hispanic student body — to pick up their children, and school officials reported sharply reduced attendance amid what school superintendent Beth Doyle described as “an undercurrent of some fear.” She said at least a quarter of the school’s students stayed home on Wednesday.
Southold Police Chief Steven Grattan said his department was notified only after ICE agents had already arrived in Greenport and did not assist in the operations. Riverhead police later said they had not been notified of any ICE activity within their jurisdiction.
Two words. Laken Riley.
Those interfering and blowing whistles need to be arrested