Immigration enforcement has prompted fresh concerns for a community on Long Island after federal agents were spotted near a number of schools at the start of the year.
Photos have been circulating widely on social media after Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were seen near Brentwood High School, just off of school property.
According to Islip Forward, a group which collects pictures and monitors ICE detention efforts on Long Island, the agents were spotted on the first day of school, Sept. 3.
“We know at this time that there was at least one parent that was detained and arrested after dropping off their 16-year-old child to school at Brentwood,” Ahman Perez, the founder of Islip Forward, said Sunday.
“We’ve seen them throughout delis, groceries, laundromats, and this is the first time that we’ve ever seen them adjacent to a school.”
The following day, Islip Forward was sent another photo of ICE agents hanging out outside Alverta B. Gray Schultz Middle School in Hempstead. The officials were spotted around 7:30 a.m., right around the time school was scheduled to begin. No one appears to have been detained in that instance.
Immigrant leaders say the psychological toll on children is great, with many worried that undocumented children might stop going to school altogether.
“Kids are wondering, is that my parent next? Am I okay when I leave this building at the end of the day?” Perez said.
The Brentwood superintendent sent a letter to parents saying in part, “ICE has not been on school district property. At this time, we have not been able to confirm the reason for their presence in the surrounding area.”
A separate communication from the school district’s director of safety confirmed those agents did place someone under arrest, though cameras did not show whether that person dropped someone off at school.
The Nassau County Democrats released a statement that reads, “No child should walk into a classroom fearful that their family could be torn apart by masked Ice agents waiting nearby. That is not safety. It is cruelty.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not return a request for comment.
0 Comments