Nassau County Dems Plan Sunrise Highway ‘De-Icing’ Demonstration

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY. — As snow piles across Nassau County begin to thaw, local democratic organizations have joined together to voice their frustration with Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE). A joint demonstration is planned for several locations along Sunrise Highway Saturday at 11 a.m., titled, “Believe Your Eyes, Not Their Lies: A Peaceful Demonstration to De-ICE Nassau County.”

While the demonstration has become a county-wide effort, organizers say it was the brainchild of the Rockville Centre Democratic Club. From Co-President Laura Mallay’s point of view, what started as an RVC local effort spread county-wide because, “people are more and more aware and really want to get out and do something.”

“I think that there's a real urgency in the air based on things that are going on throughout the country,” Mallay told Patch. “I think Democrats want to get out there and stand up to what we see as violations of human rights and civil rights, and increase awareness. The things that are going on in certain communities in Nassau and not in others is pretty scary.”

When asked what the goals of the demonstration were, Mallay said it was to raise awareness among both private citizens and public servants.

“Number one, it's to increase awareness that what is being presented to us as removal of criminal immigrants, is not the case,” Mallay said. “They are stopping citizens. It's a federal stop and frisk. So we want people to be aware of that, and we want, you know, our elected officials to see how we feel, you know, that this is not okay, and we're not going to look the other way.”

Claudia Borecky, of the Bellmore-Merrick Democratic Club, said she felt the conduct of the federal agency had made demonstrations like this one more important and timely. Specifically, Borecky cited the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti as flashpoints that showed why change might be needed. She also said, like Mallay, that the frequency of people being detained without criminal records was a stark contrast from what ICE was originally purported to be doing.

“I think it's important, because of the escalation in ice, even though they're kind of leaving Minneapolis, they are already here on Long Island, and there are obviously more trucks coming in,” Borecky said. “They want to be more of a presence at a time when we would like them out of here. Originally, before things happened with [Renee] Good and [Alex] Pretti, I believed ICE needed to have a presence here. You needed some organization that could detain criminal immigrants. But that's not what they're doing. 70% of the ones that are being detained in Nassau County that have no criminal records.”

When asked about her own goals for Saturday’s demonstration, Borecky said, simply, “to tell Blakeman to de-ICE Nassau County.”

Hazel Leon, a Freeport resident and founder of Así Vamos NY, said the demonstration was most important as a way to support people across Nassau who have been living in fear since the federal immigration crackdown ramped up. Leon previously organized a vigil in honor of Renee Good in Freeport, and said the way lives have been changed by ICE was one of the things that moved her to get involved in this demonstration.

“We've been seeing that our neighbors are afraid to leave their homes and can really no longer walk on the main roads, and feel scared that they are going to be taken by ice because of the way that ice is operating in our communities,” Leon said.

As for what instructions she had for people looking to get involved, Leon had a few quick steps they could take.

“Show up, show out, and connect with the organizers,” Leon said. “That way, we can continue to fight for justice together.”

Interested attendees can RSVP at the Nassau County Democrats’ website, and can attend at the following locations:

• Lynbrook LIRR Station
• Opposite Karp Kia car store on Sunrise Hwy RVC
• Corner of Mill Rd and Sunrise Hwy VALLEY STREAM
• Corner of Milburn Ave and Sunrise Hwy BALDWIN
• Merrick LIRR Station, (east of Hewlett Ave)