ICE agents spotted in Glen Cove: 'Fear in the community'

Increased presence of ICE agents noticed by Long Island residents

FOX 5 NY's Jessica Formoso reports that Long Island residents have noticed an increased presence of ICE agents recently.

LONG ISLAND - Long Island residents have noticed an increased presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents recently.

ICE agents in Long Island

What we know:

FOX 5 NY's Jessica Formoso reports that advocacy group Islip Forward has footage of ICE agents throughout Suffolk County.

The federal agents were spotted in Glen Clove along Cedar Swamp Road, outside a Burger King, earlier today, June 11.

Glen Clove Police Lieutenant John Nagle told FOX 5 NY that officers responded to a call from a business owner at around 8:30 a.m. saying an assault was in progress – the "assault" in question was a group of federal agents carrying out an enforcement operation.

Nagle confirms the Glen Cove police did not assist in the operation.

Employees working at the Burger King at the time confirmed that the agents never went inside the establishment; they arrested a man before placing him inside a car.

Residents of New Cassel are also scared – Formoso reported there were very few people on the streets in the wake of a visit from Homeland Security investigators in their neighborhood. 

Reactions, official response

What they're saying:

The manager of a supermarket just up the block from where the latest ICE arrest took place spoke to Formoso, citing confusion from the locals.

"There is fear in the community," Bravo Supermarket's manager Sal said. "People are asking if [ICE agents] have been here." He confirmed that they had not.

Executive Director of the Central American Refugee Center (CARECEN) Melanie Creps told FOX 5 NY "We're seeing people picked up who have no criminal record, who have lived here for 10 years, paid their taxes, and they got detained in one of these raids."

Assemblymember Charles Lavine posted this statement on X:

The other side:

Long Island Homeland Security investigators, according to ICE, were conducting an operation associated to an ongoing federal investigation in the New Cassel area on Tuesday afternoon.

Nassau Police arrived on the scene to respond to a car accident that the agents were involved in; they told FOX 5 NY that, to their knowledge, the incident was not a raid.

ICE provided this statement: "This operation did not involve the nearby school, and did not involve a vehicle pursuit. For the safety of our personnel, ICE HSI will not provide additional comment at this time."