OLA in the News

Acclaimed comedian Pedro Gonzalez performs separate English and Spanish sets in a collaboration with OLA Colombian-born comedian Pedro Gonzalez will perform two stand-up sets at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center (WHBPAC) this Saturday. The first show at 5 p.m. will be delivered in English, followed by a second set at 8 p.m. performed totally in Spanish. This Saturday, comedian Pedro Gonzalez will perform two consecutive stand-up sets at the Westhampton Beach Perfor

The East Hampton Town Board got a standing ovation after a public hearing on May 7. Jack Motz East Hampton Town officials have passed a law, drafted by OLA of Eastern Long Island, that blocks partnerships with federal immigration agencies and outlines reporting procedures in the event of an enforcement action. This move, undertaken at a work session on Tuesday, made East Hampton Town the second jurisdiction on the East End to pass the draft law, which is circulating the 10 to

East Hampton Town Hall last month. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr. East Hampton Town on Tuesday adopted legislation barring its police from cooperating with federal authorities on civil immigration enforcement. The town board voted unanimously to approve the bill during its meeting on Tuesday. The new law prohibits town police from assisting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in civil immigration enforcement. The measure allows town police to cooperate in criminal cases o

OLA Executive Director Minerva Perez fought back tears as East Hampton Village became the first municipality to pass a law aimed at boosting accountability in the event of federal immigration action. Jack Motz East Hampton Village has become the first municipality on the East End to enact a law, drafted by OLA of Eastern Long Island, that is meant to boost accountability in the event of federal immigration action. What the blueprint drafted by OLA aims to do, primarily, is e

Suzanne Leaver of Amagansett was among 200 people to attend an ICE protest in Riverhead on Jan. 31. Credit: Randee Daddona Riverhead Town's Anti-Bias Task Force is reviewing what role it should play in the community after its chairman resigned after claiming the panel was discouraged from speaking out about hot-button issues including immigration enforcement. Mark “MK” McLaughlin resigned as the task force's chairman in February. He has since called for Councilwoman Denise Me

Masked agent wearing a vest marked "POLICE ERO" during an action on Route 58 in Riverhead Tuesday, Dec. 29. RiverheadLOCAL/Courtesy photo Local residents at Tuesday’s Town Board meeting continued to push for Riverhead to act on legislation proposed by the East End Latino advocacy group OLA to protect public safety during federal immigration enforcement activity. Several speakers took the podium to urge local officials to adopt or at least publicly consider the proposed local

East Hampton Village Hall, seen here in a 2016 photo. Credit: Gordon M. Grant East Hampton Village on Wednesday became the first government on the East End to ban its police department from cooperating with federal agencies on civil immigration enforcement. The law, approved by the village board in a 5-0 vote, prohibits village police from entering into Section 287(g) agreements with the Department of Homeland Security. Those agreements allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enfo

East Hampton Town Hall. The proposal also would require town and village police departments to notify newly created task forces about ICE activities if their officers were called to respond to a raid. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr. East Hampton town and village are advancing legislation to bar police from cooperating with federal agencies on civil immigration enforcement — becoming the first East End municipalities to back the proposal. The proposal would also require police

Organización Latino Americana of Eastern Long Island will host its annual Pachanga celebration on Saturday, May 2, from 7 to 10 p.m. at Bay Street Theater and the Sag Harbor Center for the Arts. This year’s event, themed “One Community / Una Comunidad,” invites residents from across the East End to celebrate Latin culture through music, dance and community connection. The evening will feature live music by La Herencia, known for its “Golden Age of Salsa” sound and high-energy

Comedian Pedro Gonzalez performs at WHPBAC on Saturday, May 30, with a show in English and another in Spanish. Courtesy WHBPAC Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center Collaboration with Organización Latino Americana of Eastern Long Island The Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center (WHBPAC), in partnership with OLA (Organización Latino Americana) of Eastern Long Island, will co-present an evening of comedy featuring acclaimed Latin comedian Pedro Gonzalez on Saturday, May 3

Organizacíon Latino Americana (OLA) of Eastern Long Island recently proposed a law that seeks accountability and transparency regarding federal immigration action. It was first introduced for consideration by OLA and director Minerva Perez in February to East End municipalities that have their own police departments. Written so that towns and villages can adapt it to suit their needs, the proposed law was drafted by former State Assemblyman (and current OLA board member) Fre

A proposed law by Organizacíon Latino Americana of Eastern Long Island that seeks accountability and transparency regarding federal immigration action on the East End was first introduced to municipalities that have their own police departments in February to consider. In the two months since an initial meeting with officials from East End towns and villages, municipalities have made varying degrees of progress on the proposed law. The base version of the law, which was draft

Minerva Perez, executive director of OLA Eastern Long Island, seen at an Express Sessions panel in November, spoke to the Southampton Village Board on Tuesday, March 24. DANA Organización Latino Americana of Eastern Long Island Executive Director Minerva Perez spoke to the Southampton Village Board on Tuesday, March 24, about a proposed law that the organization has been circulating to municipalities across the East End regarding federal immigration enforcement. The proposed

The ICE raid last month in Greenport could not have come at a worse time for Pindar Damianos. The general manager for family-owned Pindar Vineyards in Peconic was already behind schedule to prune nearly 300 acres of vines when federal agents raided a Greenport coffee shop and picked up two of his workers, Alexandro Rivera Magaña and Martir Zambrano Diaz. Earlier this month, he said he had yet to learn of the whereabouts of the workers, who are part of a crew of more than a do

Read a copy of the East Hampton Village draft law here. East Hampton Village officials have lent their support to legislation promoted by OLA of Eastern Long Island that seeks to foster accountability for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and that has swept the area over the past month, making the village the first municipality on the East End to move the law forward. This comes as OLA has continued its blitz of East End board meetings, including the East Hampton Town

OLA Executive Director Minerva Perez at a press conference at Riverhead High School in March 2023. RiverheadLOCAL/Alek Lewis (file photo) A revised version of a proposed local law aimed at public safety during federal immigration enforcement activity is now circulating among East End municipalities, but Riverhead officials have not committed to discussing it with the advocacy group seeking its adoption. The Organización Latino Americana of Eastern Long Island, or OLA, says th

OLA’s proposed legislation asks local police to do one thing: keep the peace The tension in the air at the Riverhead Family Court recently wasn’t theoretical; it was tangible and deeply alarming. Imagine standing outside a local courthouse, watching a resident being pulled from a car by heavily armed, masked men. Now imagine the largest of those men turning toward a bystander who was simply documenting the scene, his thumb resting heavily on the trigger of a pepper spray can

Anita Boyer speaks at an East Hampton Village Board meeting on February 20. A proposed law drafted by Organización Latino Americana and former State Assemblyman Fred Thiele, which seeks to foster transparency and accountability during federal immigration enforcement actions in local towns and villages, is beginning to sweep across the East End. What the five-page resolution calls for, primarily, is the establishment of a series of procedures and training programs that would s

Masked federal agents detain a man on East Main Street in Riverhead Monday, Dec. 29, in one of several federal enforcement operations around town that resulted in at least three arrests, according to witnesses. RiverheadLOCAL/courtesy photo Key Points OLA urged Riverhead to consider a local law on public safety, transparency and accountability during ICE activity OLA urged Riverhead to consider a local law on public safety, transparency and accountability during ICE activity

Minerva Perez, executive director of OLA of Eastern Long Island, in her office in East Hampton. Credit: Michael A. Rupolo Sr. A Latino advocacy group is pushing East End towns and villages to share reports about federal immigration activity with the public following recent arrests that have rattled the region. The proposal also seeks to empower East End police departments to check federal agents' identification and scan their vehicles — at times unmarked — using license plate