U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained four people on Wednesday, June 11, near the Long Island Rail Road station in Glen Cove.
Nearly a month later, the identities of the four people detained remain unknown. As do the identities of the ICE agents or even what they look like.
Presumably, they were wearing what ICE agents normally wear—masks and tactical gear. That was the case of Fernando Mejia, a Port Washington bagel shop manager who was detained by ICE that same day, according to those who witnessed Mejia’s detention.
Unlike all Nassau County officers, ICE agents did not wear name tags or other forms of identification on the outside of their uniforms, according to eyewitnesses at Mejia’s arrest. Mejia is currently detained in a detention center in New Jersey and is awaiting a hearing to determine his fate.
Glen Cove City police officers learned of the four people being detained after responding to a report of an assault, according to Glen Cove Detective Lt. John Nagle.
Nagle said he was not told the identity of the four men, nor were Nassau police, who work with ICE agents under an agreement with the county.
A spokesman for the Nassau County Police Department, Detective Lt. Scott Skrynecki, said he does not have the names of individuals who have been detained by ICE agents. He said that ICE does not brief Nassau County police when detainments occur, nor do they provide information after the fact.
Why the secrecy?
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security claim officers have faced a sharp rise in threats and “antisocial behavior,” including an alleged “500% increase in assaults” on ICE personnel, arguing masks help prevent doxxing and harassment of agents or their families.
In press statements, ICE said the face coverings during enforcement actions are optional and emphasized they help “protect agents and their loved ones.”
And in response to criticism calling masked agents “secret police,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson dismissed such claims as politically motivated, insisting the claims contributed to violence and endangered agents.
But that is not enough.
ICE agents should have visible identification like any other law enforcement agent.
Of greater concern is abusive behavior by ICE agents. If agents are wearing masks and not showing identification, how can someone report their wrongful behavior?
This is not just a federal question, but a county one as well.
County officials announced in February that local Nassau police officers would work directly with immigration officials and even act as ICE agents themselves, which would allow them to arrest people for federal immigration offenses, pursuant to a federal judge’s warrant. Some 10 Nassau detectives were to be attached to ICE.
Skrynecki said county police have turned over about 15 individuals to ICE who were arrested by officers for violating state laws like DWI and assault and were wanted by ICE agents, but they have not aided ICE in going out to detain people.
The New York Civil Liberties Union, a non-profit civil rights organization, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, June 24, that argues that Nassau’s agreement violates state law prohibiting local law enforcement from conducting civil immigration arrests for ICE. The case is still pending and has yet to be decided.
The “One Big Beautiful Bill” signed by Trump on Friday, July 4, boosts ICE’s overall budget from about $10 billion to over $100 billion through 2029, making it the largest law enforcement agency budget in U.S. history. This includes a threefold increase in enforcement, including 10,000 more agents. The added agents will provide ICE with more agents than the FBI, DEA, ATF, Bureau of Prisons, and U.S. Marshals combined.
This comes at a time when the Trump administration is increasingly targeting unauthorized immigrants with no criminal record as it ramps up arrests, a Washington Post analysis of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement data shows. In January, nearly 46% of those detained had been convicted of a crime. By June, that number had dropped to 30%.
No one knows what category the four men detained in Glen Cove fall under. Or what has happened to them.
That is unacceptable.
