OLA in the News

ICE officers photographed at the Hampton Bays Fire Department substation on Ponquogue Avenue. ANITA BOYER Federal immigration officers again roamed through Hampton Bays and Westhampton on Tuesday morning, detaining multiple people in Hampton Bays before heading west, though it’s not yet known if there were more detentions made there. Members of the local group of residents who have organized to track and film operations by officers from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Ella Engel-Snow speaks out against ICE, Photo: Lisa Tamburini Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents’ recent arrest of about a dozen immigrants on the South Fork sparked renewed protests of President Donald Trump’s continuing aggressive national migrant deportation effort. Critics rallied at Southampton Town Hall at the town board’s latest meeting on Nov. 12 in the days after ICE agents made arrests in Hampton Bays and Westhampton, where the agency using a local fi

The protest is the third in as many weeks to protest ICE on the East End. A previous East End protest. (Courtesy Anita Boyer) EAST HAMPTON, NY — Protestors outraged over ICE raids on the East End will gather again Friday to speak out, this time in East Hampton. According to organizer Anita Boyer, the event will take place at the Hook Mill, at the corner of North Main Street and Pantigo Road, from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.   The goal, she said, is to "stand up for our neighbors and

Protests over the detention of at least a dozen people by federal immigration agents in Hampton Bays and Westhampton earlier this month continued to ripple across the South Fork this week. Dozens of angry residents bombarded the Southampton Town Board last Wednesday, November 12, with demands that local officials take steps to express opposition to federal immigration operations here. About 55 protesters demonstrated in Westhampton on Friday morning and another protest is pla

ICE has been enacting sudden raids throughout the East End of Long Island, causing widespread alarm and confusion, especially within the Latino community. Many families have stopped sending children to school, avoid medical appointments, and other basic parts of life for fear of being detained. Minerva Perez is Executive Director of OLA of Eastern Long Island , a Latino advocacy organization. She joined the panel to give detail and context around these instances as well as he

Patti Schaefer Fahey of Westhampton Beach addresses the Southampton Town Board about ICE activities in Southampton last week. RiverheadLOCAL/Juliana Holguín. A crowd filled the Southampton Town Hall meeting room Wednesday afternoon as residents, clergy and immigrant advocates called on the Town Board to take a stand against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Hampton Bays and Westhampton Beach last week. “Families are being snatched from their homes and wor

While the ICE sweep last week that ensnared a dozen immigrants has sparked outrage and protests from some, those who are dedicated to helping members of the immigrant community have been beset with a new mountain of demands. For OLA of Eastern Long Island, the region’s most prominent Latino advocacy and support organization, the aftermath of last week’s sweeps has left the organization scrambling to get help to those detained and their families and address renewed anxieties a

As News 12 reported, multiple Long Island Cares pantries saw big increases in the number of families they served from the last week of October to the first week of this month, such as Valley Stream, which saw an increase of 120%. One Long Island Cares pantry says they saw a drop in people coming in last week due to immigration fears. The Long Island Cares Hampton Bays food pantry typically serves 150 families per week. But they recently saw a dramatic drop. "It's the immigrat

On Wednesday, November 5, ICE agents swept into Hampton Bays and Westhampton, setting upon immigrant laborer gathering spots and businesses that employ or are frequented by immigrants. The officers made several arrests as part of the largest local federal immigration sweep since the start of the second Donald Trump administration.
 In this week's episode, the editors talk about the operation with senior reporter Michael Wright, New York State Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni

Immigrant advocates say a man was pinned under the tire of a car during his arrest by ICE agents. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa reports. Credit: Newsday Studios; Osman Canales U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents hit the East End this week in a series of raids that immigrant advocates said were creating havoc and fear in the community amid a nationwide crackdown. On Wednesday in Westhampton, Edgar Tezen, 35, an immigrant from Guatemala, was partially pinned under the tire

Residents and local officials have issued sweeping condemnations of federal immigration policy this week in the wake of a November 5 sweep by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents that resulted in the arrest of 12 people whom the federal agency claims were in the United States illegally. Dozens of protesters lined Montauk Highway in Hampton Bays on Friday morning, November 7, decrying the arrests, carrying signs saying things like “Community Not Cruelty” and “Stop ICE,”

A Border Patrol vehicle monitors the U.S.-Mexico border in California earlier this year. Credit: AP/Gregory Bull The Trump administration, in the latest front in its mass deportation campaign, is targeting "unaccompanied" children who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without their parents, according to officials and advocates. The government is offering the children, including thousands on Long Island, $2,500 to go back to their homelands — and suggesting they and their familie

U.S. State Department seal in front of the agency's office in Washington, DC in July. Credit: NurPhoto via Getty Images/NurPhoto Immigrant advocates on Friday described the Trump administration’s announcement to expand its review of all current U.S. visa holders as the latest crackdown intended to snuff out free speech and criticism of the administration. The U.S. State Department, in an emailed statement to Newsday on Friday, said its "continuous vetting includes all of the

Members of immigrant communities in the East End village are now on edge. An immigration advocate says ICE was in Greenport Sunday and several people were deported. Minerva Perez, executive director of OLA of Eastern Long Island described it as an “indiscriminate raid.” “It is outrageously frightening," she said. “These were folks that were just sort of randomly picked out. These were not targeted situations.” Members of immigrant communities in the East End village are now o

"It's horrifying. It's the most devastating thing I've ever experienced," said Minerva Perez, whose East End Latino advocacy group, OLA,...

Organización Latino Americana of Eastern Long Island Executive Director Minerva Perez joined a chorus of voices pushing back on three new...

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Latino immigrants care for some of America’s most lavish beachside mansions. Their disappearance would affect the wealthy, too. Latino...

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The Town of Southold is holding a community meeting on Thursday night on its “policing policy” amid ICE activities. The East End of Long Island counts many immigrants as its residents. Advocates tell News 12 there is fear among those who are both undocumented and documented. Minerva Perez, executive director of OLA of Eastern Long Island, said that businesses are going to be “drastically affected” by the fear that their own employees have about showing up to work. The Town of