By Hank Russell
A local legislator expressed anger over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for renting out space in a Woodbury office building.
According to reports from The Long Island Press, ICE rented out office space to house up to 40 attorneys. The building is owned by Aresco Management.
U.S. Congressman Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) issued a video statement, according to the Press. “We saw what happened in Minneapolis and Chicago and Los Angeles, and we don’t want that happening here on Long Island,” he said.
The Press also reported that Suozzi wrote Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem a letter as to why ICE is in Woodbury, but did not hear back. “Transparency and good-faith engagement between federal, state and local officials are essential to building trust and preventing the chaos and uncertainty we’ve seen elsewhere in this country,” he wrote.
However, Suozzi said he was pleased to know the office space will not be used as a detention center, according to the Press.
Upon learning of ICE setting up a location in Woodbury, Nassau County Legislator Arnold Drucker (D-Plainview) said in a video statement that it “has horrified, dismayed and angered me to my very core. … Not only is the escalation of this vindictive campaign deeply cruel, it is totally unnecessary,”
Drucker also said he was “appalled” by President Donald Trump and his supporters’ “unrelenting efforts to inflict terror in Nassau County and across our nation.”
“They’re choosing to set up shop in our community, where it is neither warranted nor invited,” Drucker said, adding it “indicates an effort at ramping up their offensive campaign of chaos and sowing fear here on Long Island.”
Long Island Life & Politics has reached out to County Executive Bruce Blakeman and ICE for comment, but did not hear back as of press time.