OLA in the News

Hannah Liu, 26, of Washington, holds up a sign in support of birthright citizenship outside of the U.S. Supreme Court last year. Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin Immigrant advocates across Long Island celebrated the U.S. Supreme Court decision Tuesday to uphold birthright citizenship as a victory not only for immigrant families but for American democracy. The Trump administration, through executive order in January last year, sought to repeal birthright citizenship to children bor

Congressman Nick LaLota speaks at a press conference at Gabreski Airport last year. Dana Shaw U.S. Representative Nick LaLota has threatened to halt future federal funding for vital infrastructure and public safety projects in jurisdictions that have enacted laws said to stymie federal enforcement actions, with the congressman taking particular aim at East Hampton Town and East Hampton Village. Officials in the town and village responded by saying that they do not plan to bac

From left, Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville), East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez and East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen. Credit: Newsday / Howard Schnapp (LaLota); Michael A. Rupolo Sr. (Burke-Gonzalez, Larsen) East Hampton town and village leaders, along with Latino advocates, have condemned Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) for threatening to block federal earmarks to governments that restrict police cooperation with federal immigration authorities. In a le

Representative Nick LaLota joined state, county and local officials, including East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, left, at a press conference in Montauk in February 2025 about emergency dredging of the Montauk Inlet. Durell Godfrey It appears Republican Representative Nick LaLota is cutting off East Hampton Town and Village from receiving federal dollars for community project funding requests. These requests, also known as "earmarks," bear no relation to our

A speaker at a local graduation ceremony highlights the immigration struggle An especially poignant happening in Suffolk County amid the Trump administration’s campaign against immigrants came last month when honors student Sara Lopez Garcia returned — virtually — for graduation ceremonies at Suffolk County Community College, and gave a video presentation. A year earlier, agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency raided her home in Mastic and arrested her. As B

White House border czar Tom Homan during a television interview Thursday. Credit: AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson The Department of Homeland Security plans to flood New York City with more ICE agents since Gov. Kathy Hochul has signed legislation that will stymie the department’s efforts, the White House border czar said Monday. Hochul told Newsday that the move would be "wildly disruptive" to the nation's economic capital and that "Americans have had enough with the overrea

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

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

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