Over 150 people learned about their rights at the First Baptist Church in Glen Cove on Thursday, Jan. 15, amid the growing immigration enforcement concerns throughout the country.
Susan Gottehrer, the director of the Nassau County New York Civil Liberties Union, Rev. Roger C. Williams, the pastor of the church and members of Long Island’s Rapid Response Network helped educate the community on actions that can be taken to help immigrants.
State Assembly Member Charles Lavine helped organize the session, saying Americans should not be abused and that we need to protect our communities and stand together against injustice.
“It is just tough to imagine that any president of the United States would deploy armed paramilitary forces to instigate unrest,” he said.
Lavine has previously hosted multiple vigils in Long Island communities, including one in Glen Cove, where approximately 200 people gathered together to protest immigration enforcement.
Glen Cove and Westbury, two communities located within Lavine’s state Assembly district, have been notably affected by ICE involvement over the past year.
Lavine previously said he condemned the deadly shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, which sparked national protests over immigration enforcement, and he called for ICE to be taken out of communities.
“There is a special place in hell for any official who would try to politically monetize this American tragedy,” he said after the shooting in a statement. “It is time for Trump and his sycophants to withdraw ICE from our American communities.”
Lavine also said “Trump’s war on America’s cities, America’s immigrants, and America’s people is un-American.”
