ICE on Long Island: Advocates say agents spotted near Brentwood, Hempstead schools as classes resume

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were spotted near schools in Brentwood and Hempstead this week as students returned from the summer break, provoking outrage among public officials and activists and in one district sending attendance plunging.

Agents were seen outside Brentwood High School on Wednesday — the first day of school there — and Alverta B. Gray Schultz Middle School in Hempstead on Thursday, according to officials and photographs posted by immigration activists.

In Brentwood, the father of a 16-year-old high school student was arrested by ICE agents Wednesday after dropping his son off, according to Phil Ramos, the deputy speaker of the New York State Assembly, whose district includes Brentwood.

Ramos told Newsday that agents followed the man a couple of blocks away from the school and arrested him.

The circumstances around the man's arrest were unclear, but the Democratic assemblyman told Newsday TV that "a barrage of phone calls came into my office saying ICE was just randomly pulling people over, so this wasn’t ICE going after criminals. They were just randomly stopping people to see if they were undocumented."

School officials in Hempstead said attendance dropped by 18% Thursday as word spread rapidly through the community early that morning that ICE was patrolling the village.

"Their presence has really caused a kind of hysteria," said Gary Rush, Hempstead's interim superintendent of schools. "It was pretty obvious they were out there."

He added, "We need students here. It makes it tough with [ICE] being around." 

ICE did not respond to a request for comment.

Immigration crackdown

The appearance of ICE agents near schools on Long Island appeared to be the latest escalation of what President Donald Trump says will be the largest mass deportation campaign in U.S. history. His efforts intensified in late May after Stephen Miller, deputy White House chief of staff, said the administration wanted to boost the number of immigrant arrests from about 600 a day to at least 3,000 a day.

Trump says the campaign is targeting dangerous criminals, including gang members who are in the country illegally. Immigrant advocates contend that many of the people being swept up to meet the quota are blue-collar workers who fill jobs in restaurants, factories, landscaping and other areas like farms.

“ICE is not protecting our community — they are terrorizing it,” Ramos wrote in a statement posted on his website. “This is not only inhumane — it is un-American.” 

Photographs of ICE agents near the Brentwood school were posted by the immigrant advocate group Islip Forward and other activists. Photographs were also posted of agents near the Hempstead middle school, including one appearing to show a student wearing a backpack and standing near the agents.

Ahmad Perez, a leader of Islip Forward, said masked ICE agents had gathered around 7 a.m. Wednesday in an area outside Brentwood High School where students typically park their cars.

“We now have agents in proximity to … places of learning, safe havens for youths,” he said. “We’re now seeing kids fearful.”

He added, “They should be going to school excited. This is the first day of class. Instead, it was tarnished by something so horrific.” 

One mother of a 15-year-old student at Brentwood High School, who asked not be named because of possible repercussions, said Friday afternoon that her son was worried about friends who are undocumented and their families.

“He shouldn't have those worries," she said as she waited in a line of cars during dismissal. "He's too young to have those concerns."

She said after they received news from the school district of ICE's presence, her son asked if he could stay home.

"It's really sad," she said. "We have to support each other and if we see anything like this again, we should tell other parents, so they could be on alert."

School response

Wanda Ortiz-Rivera, Brentwood schools superintendent, said in a statement to Newsday this week: “There has not been any ICE activity on school property. Our students are safe and no attempts have been made by ICE to be on school grounds. We are having a great start of the school year.”

Ortiz-Rivera also sent a letter to families in the district, acknowledging the reports of ICE activity and stating agents did not come onto school grounds.

“At this time, we have not been able to confirm the reason for their presence in the surrounding area,” she wrote.

In Hempstead, Victor Pratt, vice president of the board of education, said, “I’m concerned with the fear that ICE agents outside the school is causing. We’re trying to get the confidence up within the community that school is still a safe place. It’s just getting to school that they” may have problems.

District spokespeople said there had been no reports of ICE enforcement this week near schools in Riverhead, Uniondale, Roosevelt and Central Islip, which have large Hispanic student populations, though officials in Central Islip said residents have reported seeing ICE in the community. 

Gov. Kathy Hochul, speaking Friday morning at an unrelated news conference at Manorhaven Elementary School in Port Washington, said ICE agents are "not allowed to come onto the school grounds, unless they have a warrant, a criminal warrant, but when the children step off the grounds, there is a vulnerability there. ... I'm going to make sure that everyone knows their rights and that the state Education Department continues communicating with parents on what they need to know.”

Newsday's Maura McDermott contributed to this story.