LI mail carrier Tamara Mayorga-Wong charged with obstruction after allegedly freeing man being detained by ICE, court papers say

A Westhampton mail carrier has been charged with obstructing a federal proceeding after she allegedly freed a man being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers from a law enforcement vehicle, allowing him to briefly escape detention, federal court records show.

U.S. Magistrate Anne Shields ordered Tamara Mayorga-Wong, 57, of Westhampton Beach, released on $50,000 bond during an arraignment on Thursday afternoon at the Eastern District of New York courthouse in Central Islip.

Mayorga-Wong appeared frightened and anxious as she pleaded not guilty to the obstruction charge during Thursday’s hearing. She and her attorney, Felipe Garcia, of the Federal Defenders, declined to talk to reporters as they exited the courthouse.

Mayorga-Wong was wearing her U.S. Postal Service uniform on Nov. 5 when she exited the post office after seeing agents taking a man into custody outside a neighboring 7-Eleven store, according to an affidavit filed by a special agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

"You can’t do this," the agent alleges Mayorga-Wong shouted as she demanded to see a warrant for the arrest of the man, who was not named in court records unsealed Thursday. As officers entered the front doors of the vehicle and prepared to drive away, Mayorga-Wong allegedly ran to the rear passenger side and opened the door. Speaking in Spanish, she told the man to flee, officials said.

The federal immigration agents turned their attention to Mayorga-Wong after recapturing the man they originally set out to detain, charging documents show. The officers informed Mayorga-Wong that she was under arrest as she entered her vehicle in the employee parking lot of the post office and attempted to leave.

"Law enforcement officers blocked the exit with an official vehicle, informed Mayorga-Wong in both English and Spanish, that she was under arrest and repeatedly instructed her to step out of her vehicle — commands she refused to obey," the criminal complaint states.

She was ultimately removed from her vehicle and taken into custody at Southampton police headquarters in Hampton Bays, records show.

While in custody, according to the complaint, Mayorga-Wong asked a bilingual deportation officer: "Why are you doing this to your own people?"

"What are you going to tell your children about what you do?" Mayorga-Wong asked the agents.

Charging documents in Mayorga-Wong’s case show the man being detained by ICE was eventually brought into custody. He was facing charges for violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act and was facing a federal immigration removal proceeding before the Department of Homeland Security.