Reports of activity by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agents in Greenport, Long Island this week has reportedly prompted about a quarter of all students in the school district to stay home out of fear.
The Greenport Union Free School District confirmed that 25 percent of their student body was absent on Wednesday, February 4, following reports of three ICE-related arrests having been made in the area that day.
The arrests were announced by Organización Latino Americana (OLA) of Eastern Long Island on Facebook, which claimed that Alexandro Rivera Magana, Martir Zambrano Diaz, and Hugo Leonel Ardon Osorio - all of whom had purportedly been in the country for 20+ years and did not have criminal records - were the men taken by ICE.
The Southold Town Police Department, whose jurisdiction includes Greenport, confirmed that their officers were not involved in any way with the ICE arrests.
“Be assured that when you need the services of the Southold Police Department, you can call for assistance without fear, regardless of your immigration status,” a spokesperson for the STPD said. “Department policy prohibits officers of the Southold Police Department from inquiring about the immigration status of any person when they are a victim, witness or seeking assistance.”
The arrests were also condemned by Greenport Mayor Kevin Stuessi, who said “It’s a tragedy to see parents being separated from children, and then doubly troubling to see all the fear with local students and families as federal agents were swarming the village this morning."