Demonstrators lined Northern Boulevard in Manhasset on Saturday, Feb. 21, for a rally calling on local and federal officials to cut ties with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The event, titled “ICE Out for Good: Rally to De-ICE Nassau County,” was held on the northeast corner of Northern Boulevard and Port Washington Boulevard, near the Whole Foods shopping center. A sister protest was held simultaneously on Northern Boulevard and Community Drive, in front of Macy’s.
The rally was organized by several local Democratic clubs, including the Great Neck Democratic Club, the Manhasset Democratic Club, the Albertson/Herricks/New Hyde Park/East Williston/Williston Park Democratic Club and the Port Washington Democratic Club. Organizers emphasized a commitment to nonviolent action and said participants were expected to act lawfully and avoid confrontation.
Julie Appel, a member of the Port Washington Democratic Club, said she felt encouraged by the turnout.
“It’s very heartening to see so many of my neighbors come out and want to protest the injustices,” Appel said. She described concerns about what she called “undemocratic” and “anti-rule of law” actions and said it was important for residents to make their voices heard.
Appel said the North Shore rally was inspired in part by similar efforts on the South Shore.
Among those in attendance was Democratic Assembly candidate Kim Keiserman, who said she was participating as a resident.
“I’m here, really, as a citizen,” Keiserman said. “I think the people of Long Island are looking around at what’s happening across the country and what’s happening here, and they’re seeing that the answer is not mass deporting. The answer is comprehensive immigration reform that offers people a path to citizenship and that fixes our broken immigration system.”
Keiserman criticized what she described as “chaos” and “cruelty” in immigration enforcement.
“We do not want to see masked, unidentified agents coming into our communities and dragging law-abiding, hardworking people out of their homes and out of courtrooms that they have entered in good faith,” she said. “That stokes fear in our communities. It hurts our economy. It undermines law enforcement and public safety. It separates families, it leaves children traumatized and impoverished, and it raises the specter of a police state in the United States.”
Source: LI Press
