ICE, police won't go into Nassau schools for federal immigration matters, Blakeman, Ryder say
Nassau County Police and federal agents with angry residents near Park Avenue Elementary School in Westbury Tuesday. Federal agents said later they did not go on the school campus. Credit: Newsday/James Carbone
Nassau police won't go into schools on immigration matters and have no arrangement with federal agents to do so, officials said Wednesday.
County Executive Bruce Blakeman and Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said in interviews with reporters in East Meadow that police officers will not pursue immigration operations in schools or houses of worship.
Ryder said police have reached out to reassure communities amid recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement sweeps around the country. In recent days, ICE agents were seen in several Long Island communities, including Glen Cove and Freeport.
"The phone blows up anytime [agents are] in the community, and we tell them we're not about separating families, we're not about going into schools, we don't go into hospitals, we don't go into houses of worship," Ryder said. "We're assisting immigration when they come out here and they're going after a bad guy, that is their focus."
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- Nassau officials said Wednesday there was no arrangement with federal officials or local police to go into schools on immigration matters.
- The announcement came amid deportation raids that have been ramped up throughout the country by the Trump administration.
- Earlier this week, Westbury residents were upset that federal agents were seen near a Westbury school, but federal agents said they did not go on campus.
Blakeman said: "Raids on schools are not something we do unless there's an emergency or a threat, and if there's an emergency or threat, we're coming in regardless of the situation. So the bottom line is, there is no program to raid schools here in Nassau County."
School officials said they were following guidance from Gov. Kathy Hochul, the state attorney general's office and the education commissioner on how to handle enforcement actions and warrants in schools, including parental consent and notification when ICE and authorities are involved.
The state's guidance says that generally a warrant signed by a judge is required for ICE enforcement or interrogation and administrative warrants are not valid to enter a school building.
"School district leaders remain steadfast in their commitment to providing safe and secure environments for each of their students and staff, as well as following the laws they took an oath to uphold," according to a statement by Lars Clemensen, president of the New York State Council of School Superintendents.
Suffolk County police said ICE agents have not requested their assistance and the department does not participate in ICE enforcement operations. The department's policy manual, drafted in 2023, states that arrestees are not to be detained "solely pursuant to a request" from ICE or on the basis of an ICE administrative warrant.
Officers are not to ask victims, witnesses or those receiving assistance about their immigration status, the manual said. However, the department must notify federal immigration officials when an undocumented person is arrested in connection with a crime.
Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine said Wednesday he has not been contacted by ICE, and people should not be afraid to go to school.
"Don’t be afraid," Romaine said. "People should live their lives, and I’m hopeful our concentration will be on deporting people who have committed crimes in this country."
Romaine said Suffolk County will cooperate with federal agencies when requested.
"I understand the fear, but they took a risk when they came to this country without legal authorization, so if it’s fear, it’s self-made," he said.
Officials sought to quell concerns a day after federal agents from Homeland Security and ICE were seen near an elementary school Tuesday in Westbury, prompting community members to confront them. An ICE spokeswoman said in a statement Tuesday evening that the agents were conducting a separate "ongoing investigation" but did not go on campus.
Ryder said: "Yesterday’s event was to go after an individual that was a bad guy, a bad guy that HSI was working with the FBI. It had nothing to do with immigration, zero." He added: "It had nothing to do with the school."
Blakeman also said federal agents in criminal investigations are not asking witnesses or victims about their immigration status so that they will cooperate with police. But he added: "We've got some really bad people here with illegal immigration status, and we support taking them out of our communities and making our communities safer."
In March, Blakeman announced an agreement for Nassau County police to partner with ICE to deputize 10 local police as part of a federal task force to carry out enforcement actions to help arrest immigrants without legal status. The agreement allows officers to detain inmates in Nassau County jail and also serve warrants for immigration violations. Blakeman said it would be "targeted enforcement."
Some community advocates challenged the assertion that only those with criminal backgrounds were being targeted by ICE.
"Masked ICE agents with guns have not been looking for any named individuals, just raiding day labor corners, delis, and other places where they most easily find groups of immigrants to meet their quotas," said Nadia Marin-Molina, co-executive director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and a longtime immigrant advocate based in Nassau. "They are targeting workers who contribute their labor every day to Long Island."
Newsday's Bart Jones, Mercedes Hamilton and Aidan Johnson contributed to this report.
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
