Gossips received the following press release from the Columbia County Sanctuary Movement recounting an incident that took place yesterday morning in Greenport.
At 7:17 [Wednesday] morning, six ICE vehicles surrounded four community members in a vehicle outside Bob's Restaurant in Greenport. While on their way to work and stopping for some breakfast, ICE attempted to detain them. The people inside the car knew their constitutional rights. They kept the doors closed, called the Columbia County Sanctuary Movement (CCSM) emergency hotline, and waited. CCSM's rapid response team arrived within minutes, demanded a judicial warrant be presented, which ICE could not produce, and stayed on scene until the agents left. Nobody was detained. It is the latest entry in a documented pattern of ICE targeting vehicles associated with construction work in our region.
"They said to roll down the window, that they wanted to talk to us. Then we kept saying no, that they had no right. Then they told us, they said these exact words: 'You are immigrants, you have no right to be here and you have no right to an opinion.' That was their response. And we kept telling them that we do have rights, we told them we have the right to remain silent," said one of the people in the car.
Bryan MacCormack: "Our people were ready this morning because we have been building toward this for years. They knew it wasn't local police. They knew not to open the door. They knew who to call. That is not luck, that is community defense. ICE came with six vehicles for four people and left with nobody."
Federal enforcement is escalating. ICE is operating across New York with a budget and a mandate to abduct as many people as it can. The question for Albany is not whether to respond. The question is whether to respond seriously.
The serious response already exists--the New York For All Act (S2235-Gounardes / A3506-Reyes). New York For All would prohibit state and local resources from being used for federal immigration enforcement, end 287(g) agreements across the state, and bar ICE and CBP [Customs and Border Protection] from non-public areas of state and local property without a judicial warrant. CCSM is calling on the State Legislature to pass it and on Governor Hochul to sign it. . . .
A video of the incident can be viewed here.
UPDATE: The press release from the Columbia County Sanctuary Movement makes reference to a program known as 287(g). If you are not familiar with it, listen to this report, which aired today on NPR's All Things Considered: "ICE is giving local police big money to help with immigration enforcement."
Go CCSM!! Such a vital resource in times like these. Not all communities are so prepared.
ReplyDeleteBryan McCormack is a total badass. It’s not easy to stand up to authority. But Bryan knows his stuff and refuses to accept the B.S. that ICE is trying to deliver.
ReplyDeleteThank you Bryan and CCSM for protecting our neighbors and friends and by extension, all of us.
Bravo! I'd much rather have hard-working Latino folks in our community than a bunch of dumbass, low self-esteem white guys.
ReplyDeleteWhether or not you approve of ICE, I invite you to consider this: What was the last time a federal agency was so well resourced that it could afford to conduct enforcement actions in a city the size of Hudson? How about an IRS satellite office to make sure our second homeowners are paying their capital gains taxes?
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