OLA Launches Rapid Response Operation to Counter ICE Raids and Arrests, Calls on Concerned East End Residents to Volunteer

For IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 9, 2025

Contact: Erika Padilla, Legal Advocate

631-899-3441 epadilla@olaofeasternlongisland.org

OLA Launches Rapid Response Operation

to Counter ICE Raids and Arrests,

Calls on Concerned East End Residents to Volunteer

In response to the increase in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests currently happening on Long Island, OLA is launching a rapid response action plan known as Operation Stand and Protect so that East End immigrant community members who fall prey to ICE agents have access to an active cohort of local volunteers who are ready to witness, engage, and act swiftly and peacefully to document ICE activities.

OLA will train volunteer rapid responders on how to safely and peacefully bear witness to ICE activities in real time. This allows OLA to monitor ICE interactions with immigrant community members, document rights violations, and track the kinds of sweeps, raids, and detentions that occur on the East End. It also allows OLA to verify which law enforcement entities are involved in ICE actions, whether they are local, county, state, or federal agencies. Volunteers will also be trained on how to ensure that immigrants know their rights during ICE interactions.

“For so many here on the East End, summer has effectively been canceled. The reign of terror set into motion by the current presidential administration has hit Long Island and is headed east. We saw this in the summer of 2017 during Trump’s first administration. We are already seeing ICE activity further west, and we know from bitter experience that ICE raids will arrive here next,” said OLA Executive Director Minerva Perez.

Under Perez’s direction, OLA’s advocacy, mental health, and immigration legal teams are now preparing to address the stepped-up ICE raids, often carried out by masked agents resembling the very militias that cause many community members to flee their home countries. These masked and unmasked officers, who often refuse to identify their agencies, have been roaming the streets of western Suffolk County in hamlets just a short drive away, indiscriminately arresting and taking away immigrant community members.

“What ICE is doing not only makes people fear for their own safety and that of their family, but it also affects how community members view and interact with local police and government. I know people who are afraid to go to our town justice courts for fear that ICE will arrest them there, take them from their children, and deport them,” said Erika Padilla, OLA’s legal advocate. Padilla reports that she receives calls seven days a week from people who feel traumatized and distressed due to the chaotic and unpredictable nature of current ICE operations. She and other OLA staff handle these calls by explaining what the person’s rights are and providing other relevant information.

OLA invites interested volunteers to fill out this short google form to let OLA know if they are ready and willing to be trained and notified about incidents where their physical presence could make a defining impact on an immigrant community member’s interaction with ICE: tinyurl.com/OLARapidResponse